She Will Be Loved
by LostOzian
Summary: What if Frex had loved Elphaba? What would be different? Or the same? Starts out as drabbles, then becomes full chapters. Very AU, 'mostly' told from any POV but Elphaba. Disclaimer: Almost nothing about this is mine. Get it? 'got it' good. COMPLETE!
1. Birth

Frex stared down at the strange newborn held in the midwife's arms. He couldn't believe something this terrible would happen to him. He would be shunned, insulted, the ridicule of society…

…No. He wouldn't. _She_ would, his daughter would be tortured by everybody who ever saw her. She didn't choose to be born this way. She couldn't have. Imagined visions of her future flashed before Frex's eyes. It was terrible, the things he thought people would do to her. Trembling, he took the minutes-old girl from the midwife. He had to love her. For her sake, she needed a strong father.

The esteemed governor broke down and cried, clutching the baby close. He swore to love her until the day he died, no matter how hard. She needed him.


	2. Three

"Father!" A little green three-year-old ran out the door to welcome her father. He knelt down and opened his arms to the energetic toddler.

"I'm back, Elphaba," He kissed her forehead gently, ignoring the ever-present urge to push the girl away heartlessly. "Miss me?"

"Uh huh," she snuggled into his embrace affectionately. Frex closed his eyes momentarily, imaging his _perfect_ daughter in his arms, not this green girl. He opened them again, and glanced down at the abnormal child. _Don't wish…_ He thought with harsh resolve.

"Don't you want to see your present?" The head jerked out of the crook of his elbow, eyes shining slightly.

"Father, it isn't Lurianemas," Elphaba half-protested, her perceptions of the world skewing slightly. Presents were for Lurianemas and birthdays in her young mind. Frex laughed at her harmless innocence, and produced a small leather-bound book from under his cloak. The youngster gasped and took it tenderly.

"Munchkinland Fairy Tales," Frex said. "You should be able to read most of them, but come to me whenever there are words you don't know yet." As strange as his daughter may be, Frex was proud of her rapid learning, and supported it in little ways as he reinforced his shaky affection of the green one. Elphaba jumped to secure her little arms around his neck and hug him.

"Thank you, father!" She said in his ear, not too loud. "I love you."

Frex took a deep breath. "I love you too, Elphaba."


	3. Four

Frex sat next to Elphaba on the sofa, supporting Nessarose's little head as her sister cuddled her.

"Tell me again why Nessie's legs won't work," Elphaba said, concern in her little voice, as she watched the twisted legs twitch trying to kick. Nessarose's face winced slightly at the effort, but she did not cry out.

"I thought milkflowers would help her birth, but I was too hasty and wouldn't listen to the midwife," Frex explained the well-rehearsed lie gently. "Nessa came too early instead."

"But…that was the milkflowers' fault," Elphaba looked up at her father. "Not yours." _I wish she was right._

They sat in silence on the sofa for a while, Nessarose making small coos occasionally. Then, Elphaba spoke.

"We make a funny family," she observed casually. "Mother's dead, Nessie won't walk, and I'm a green string bean." Frex felt his heart twinge at the brutal, undeniable honesty of his eldest.

"But you're my string bean," he reassured her, and even himself. _This is my daughter._ "And she's my little Nessa. And you're both perfect in your own ways."


	4. Seven

**Hey! I'm updating again! My school's on winter break, so I actually have time, especially since I've been planning this one for a while. Enjoy!

* * *

**When Elphaba would return home with Nessa after school, every day she would run to her father's arms and cry.

"Why does everybody hate me so much?" she would wail Occasionally Frex would have to put up with tiny punches on his arm as she tried to beat out her misery on something.

"It's because they don't know you." Frex would answer, smoothing the black locks just long enough to be pulled back into a simple braid. "Be patient and kind to them all, and you will find in due course you will be loved for the good person you are." Frex had to admit, by now he didn't even have to pretend to love her. The bright girl always brought a kind of unseen joy with her, even as she tried to assume the role of mother and serve breakfast to the family in the early morning, as she took care of her sister without being asked as a mother would, as she tried to comfort her father in anything that troubled him, wheather she understood it or not.

"But father, they call me ugly and strange and…" Young Elphaba's throat choked up as she gasped the last word. "Wicked."

"You are not wicked, Elphaba," Frex spoke more sternly now, determined to force the idea into his daughter's head. "No matter what anybody says, you are everything the wicked aren't."  
Elphaba took those words deeply to heart, and would always face the next day's horrors bravely until she could come back home and cry.


	5. Nine

**Sorry this one's so short, the next will be longer! -LostOzian**

* * *

Frex looked out the window to see two children walking and one wheeling herself next to the other two. Frex recognized his daughters instantly, but was puzzled by the third girl. The trio neared the front gate, and the third girl nervously said goodbye. Elphaba and Nessa waved, and Frex went downstairs to greet them. Elphaba beamed as she helped Nessa take off her boots.

"Who was that?" Frex asked, spying the girl walking off down the road alone.

"Moragen," Elphaba said the name lovingly. "Father, I think I've made a friend!"


	6. Twelve

The doorbell rang, and Elphaba let Moragen in, the two girls chatting excitedly about randomly pointless things. Elphaba led her straight to the room she and Nessa shared and started showing her favorite dolls.

"This is my doll," Elphaba held up a doll with long black hair and skin carefully dyed green with a pot of ink. "And this is Nessie." Elphaba showed a girl with brown hair in a wood-and-wire chair. "I made the chair myself. Father has a doll, but his doesn't really look like him." She held up a doll with most of its hair cut off with scissors to imitate her father's bald head, but the haircut was rather crude, leaving tufts of hair. Nessa wheeled into the room, but stayed at the edge, not making a sound. She wished she could join the two girls, but felt so incredibly shy. Watching her sister babble on constantly to the Moragen's listening ears made her feel insecure, as if conversation would hurt her. After watching her sister and her friend for a few minutes, she left to the only place she felt really secure- the family library.


	7. Fifteen

A small click told Frex that someone had opened his study door. He set down his pen and turned to face Elphaba.

"Father?" She asked tentatively, testing the waters. "May I go to a party?" Frex raised his eyebrows. Sure, Elphaba had a few friends, but a party? Elphaba saw the eyebrows and assumed the worst was coming. She launched into a list of reasons to go. "It's just a Moragen's down the road, I_ know_ I'll be back before midnight, maybe before eleven, and I can take Nessie, too, and there won't be any-"

"It's all right," Frex cut Elphaba off. "You can go. Enjoy yourself."

"Thank you so much, Father!" Elphaba practically shouted, but not quite. Frex was taken aback by her enthusiasm. "I'm so glad I can say yes to Vaxanel!" With that she sprinted out of the room to decide what to wear.

_Vaxanel?_ Frex added two and two. _Vaxanel is a boy's name. He's not hosting the party. She is saying yes to him. A boy invited Elphaba to a party. _Frex held his head in his hands, laughing and crying at the same time.

_Unnamed God help us all…My green flower is blooming._


	8. Seventeen

"You're sure you want that one, Elphaba?" Frex furrowed his brow at his daughter's taste in clothing.

"I like it," she said, smoothing the dark green fabric of the plain sleeveless dress. The most decoration was some variation on the front, a crisscross pattern. She looked in the mirror. "It's simple. No fuss and frills."

Frex sighed at the clearly lost cause. "All right, if you insist. Nessa?" He turned to his youngest. "Have you picked one?"

Nessa wheeled shyly up behind her father, a pink dress in her lap.

"Could I have this one?" she asked. Frex was often worried about his daughter's shyness, but didn't think much of it as she still had quite a few friends. Elphaba gently took the dress and held it up so she could see it all. It was a bit shorter than Elphaba's, but the pale pink looked light and blended perfectly with the mini jacket sewn on the top.

"Nessie, this is going to be beautiful on you!" Elphaba exclaimed, kneeling beside the wheelchair affectionately. "Do you want me to help you try it on?"

_If she wants to try it on, she needs your help. _Frex thought, ashamed of his paranoid fear for Nessa's complexion, crippling her forever. He took in every detail of the two girls, Elphaba so willingly helping her sister, Nessa bashfully protesting to the attention her sister paid to her. _Don't worry._ Frex finally decided. _However strange, they couldn't be happier. _


	9. Dear Old Shiz

Galinda looked down from her perch on top of her bags, completely baffled by the cluster of about eight students who failed to notice her spectacular arrival at Shiz. They just carried on talking, whispering, and laughing. The whole 'rebellion', as Galinda viewed it, seemed to be centered on a girl with black hair in a long braid. One of the students on the outside turned momentarily, looked Galinda over, then elbowed the center girl. She turned, and instantly Galinda and her followers drew back disgustedly. This girl was green. _Green_! It was unheard of. And she had friends! Oz was turned upside down.

The girl examined Galinda perched atop her luggage critically. "Did you remember the kitchen sink?" The small cluster laughed. The joke even drew a few nervous smiles from Galinda's group.

"And you are?" Galinda said regally, determined to put this _thing_ back in her place.

"Clearly inferior to the Queen of Over-Packing," The girl bowed mockingly, causing more prominent giggles as some of Galinda's friends saw her with different eyes for the first time. Galinda's Gillikin blood began to boil.

"Elphaba," a bald man pushing a girl in a wheelchair addressed the green girl. She excused herself from her friends and talked to him and the girl.

_Elphaba,_ Galinda loathed those three little syllables with all of her heart. She just hoped she wouldn't ever have to even hear of that wretched girl ever again.

* * *

"Elphaba, I know you have friends attending Shiz, but remember to be nice to everybody," Frex said to his rebellious daughter. He didn't quite like her sarcastic nature, and feared it would make her more enemies.

"I'm sorry, but you saw her! She acts like she's better than everybody!" Elphaba protested.

"Just…put up with her then. You shouldn't have to see too much of her." Frex turned Nessa's wheelchair for Elphaba to take. "And you'll remember to-"

"I know," Elphaba looked down at her sister kindly. "To look after Nessie."

"You'll remember to write home often?" Frex handed each girl a present. Nessa opened hers anxioulsy, not really wanting to leave her father. Elphaba followed suit, though not as excitedly. She was getting too old for frivilous presents.

"Oh! They're beautiful!" Nessa held up a pair of stunningly silver shoes. Frex kissed Nessa on the forehead. Elphaba's package contained an embroidered bag, black, but with intricate floral patterns in tiny maroon stitches.

"Thank you," Elphaba hugged her father, affection filling her voice. Frex sighed. Elphaba was so hard to buy for! Most books she had read, as with Nessa, but it seemed kind of plain to get her a book every time. At least Nessa somewhat cared about fashion.

A door opened, and a woman more with a large dress than anything walked into the room.

"Welcome, Students! Welcome! I am Madame Morrible, Headmistress here at Shiz University." Frex left so they could pay attention.

Elphaba and Nessa tried to pay attention to the lengthy acceptance speech. Soon, she asked about room assignments. Instantly the blonde girl's hand shot up, and Elphaba leaned down to talk to Nessa.

"Do you want to ask her? You do have the more accepted face." Nessa blushed.

"Elphaba, I couldn't. You ask her." Nessa slouched slightly in her chair shyly. Elphaba nodded and raised her hand.

"Ye- ooh…um, yes, Miss…?" Madame Morrible, like many before her, had been taken aback by Elphaba's surprising skin tone.

"Elphaba. I need to make sure the room my sister, Nessarose, and I will be sharing is chair accessible." Elphaba said confidently. Galinda bit her lip in unknown jealousy. That girl was so…

_Evil. _Galinda forced herself to think. _Wicked._

"I'm afraid almost all of the rooms are not accessible by chair, with the exception of my private suite. Nessarose will room with me, where I will be able to assist her as needed."

"No, you don't understand, Madame. I've always looked after Nessa!" Elphaba tried to explain, but Madame Morrible wouldn't have anything of it.

"Now, which of you lovely girls would like to room with Miss Elphaba?"

"Madame Morrible?" The blonde girl had raised her hand.

"Ah! Miss Galinda has been assigned a private suite and she is good enough to share it!" The student body looked on approvingly. Elphaba's friends seemed critical. "Miss Elphaba, you shall room with Miss Galinda!"

Galinda's eyes widened.

"Oh-, no, Madame Morrible! That's not what I-"

Madame Morrible wasn't listening to a word she was saying.

_Crap._ Elphaba and Galinda thought in unison.

**Mini-cliffhanger, but next is The Wizard and I! So sit there and check your computer every two seconds. I will laugh. **


	10. The Wizard and I

"Now, if there are no further questions, please retire to your rooms," Madame Morrible said finally, taking Nessa's wheelchair. Elphaba snapped out of her self pity.

"No, wait, Madame Morrible! Madame!" Elphaba tried to get the headmistress's attention over the flurry of students filing out of the hall to their rooms, wondering if their roommate pairing will be as bad as 'Blondie and Green'.

"Elphaba, I'll be fine, don't worry," Nessa tried to reassure her sister. Elphaba saw her glance nervously at the older woman taking her away and knew Nessa would not be fine for a long time. She often got severely homesick at sleepovers a mile away, even with Elphaba there. If Elphaba didn't know better, she would say Madame Morrible was ignoring her protests.

"LET HER GO!" Elphaba shouted finally, silencing the few people left in the hall. Elphaba's body felt electrified, the sensation familiar to her, like an old friend you haven't seen in years. Madame Morrible let go of the chair as if zapped, then the chair spiraled back to Elphaba by itself. Elphaba took it and immediately bent down to check on her sister. Nessa looked ready to cry, but she was unharmed. Whispers of 'how did she do that?' erupted in the hall.

"You promised things would be different here," Nessa sniffed, shying away from her sister, fear in her brown eyes. Elphaba could feel her heart being ripped at to see her sister like this.

"I wanted to help you, Nessie. You know you wouldn't be happy in that overgrown Bat's care." She tried to lay a reassuring hand on Nessa's knee, even as Nessa tried to scoot away. Her sister was trembling. "Nessa, I'm so, so sorry…"

"What? _Never_ apologize for talent! Talent is a gift! And that's my special talent, encouraging talent." Madame Morrible took Elphaba's shoulders and guided her away from Nessa. "Have you ever considered a career in sorcery?"

"No, not really-" Elphaba began, but Madame Morrible cut her off.

"I shall tutor you privately, and take no other students!" Madame Morrible announced shamelessly.

"What?!" Galinda looked ready to kill somebody, but Madame Morrible either didn't hear her or decided she wasn't there.

"Oh, Miss Elphaba…Many years I have waited for a gift like yours to appear! Why, I predict the Wizard could make you his magic Grand Vizier!"

"_The_ Wizard?" Elphaba's jaw dropped. She could _meet_ his Ozness?!

"My dear, my dear! I'll write at once to the Wizard, tell him of you in advance. With a talent like yours, dear, there is a definish chance if you work as you should, you'll be making good…"

Elphaba was so shocked. She had barely taken two steps into Shiz University and she was enrolled in an esteemed sorcery seminar. Elphaba held a green hand in front of her face, barely believing that it had cast magic. Magic. Like the _Wizard _does! The Wizard would recognize her potential, and he would be able to give her what she always wanted. To be normal. Elphaba almost skipped out of the hall. Finally, her life would be complete-

Wait. Her life _was_ complete. She had a loving sister and father, she had friends, she was smart, and she wasn't Oz's _absolute_ worst athlete. She was privileged beyond most dreams. No, she wouldn't do this for Elphaba. She would do this for others. _Making good_. Elphaba thought as she wandered toward her dorm building. That sounded so prestigious.

Suddenly, Elphaba stopped short. She saw...people. Celebrating! They were celebrating a green-skinned woman...HER! Elphaba gazed out onto the crowd only she could see, amazed by the sheer number of people. Somehow, she got the feeling that this party was happening in hundreds of places throughout Oz. She tried to hear what they were cheering, but the shouts sounded like indistinct mumblings. It was too distant. The vision faded away, and Elphaba was left with a feeling of warmth, like when people you like wish you a happy birthday. Someday, people were going to celebrate her! She did a little spin on the stone path to the dorm complex. Elphaba the Excellent, that's what they'd call her. She smiled. That had a nice ring to it, the whole three-syllables thing and all. She couldn't think of any way this day could get worse.

She climbed the stairs to the dorm room in record time, opened the door, and saw Galinda lying on what she had claimed as her bed, writing a letter. She glanced up with a look that could have murdered someone.

_I guess every golden day had a gray cloud over it somewhere_. Elphaba thought as she got out a pen and paper to write to her own father.

**Okay, 'The Wizard and I' is sort of the same scene as 'Dear Old Shiz'. Okay, I couldn't be bothered to write out new lyrics to 'The Wizard and I'. Okay, I get it, I'm sorry :(. But! Know that 'What is this Feeling' definishly is going to be cool! -Hopes-. -LostOzian.**


	11. What Is This Feeling?

Elphaba dropped her suitcase on her bed and retrieved notepaper to write to Father.

'Dearest Darlingest Momsie and Popsicle,' Galinda scratched on the flowery pink paper.

'My dear Father,' Elphaba scribbled on her emerald green stationary.

'There's been some confusion over rooming here at Shiz,' The pens documented in unison. Elphaba was determined to come clean with Father right off the bat. Galinda was looking for immediate sympathy.

'But of course I'll care for Nessa,' said Elphaba's pen.

'But of course I'll rise above it,' continued Galinda's.

'For I know that's how you'd want me to respond, yes.' The pens paused for ink. 'There's been some confusion, for you see, my roommate is,' Again, the writers stopped, trying to think of the best day to depict the person they would be spending most of the next year with.

'Unusually and exceedingly peculiar and altogether quite impossible to describe,' Galinda took the politically correct route that she knew would worry her parents beyond belief. Galinda never pretended to be intelligent unless she was in harm's way. Galinda smirked at her parent's mindset.

'Blonde!' Elphaba knew it was the only adjective for Galinda. Father would understand it was the obnoxious girl from that morning.

Galinda glanced up at Elphaba, an already too familiar feeling boiling in her stomach. Elphaba turned to meet the gaze, but Galinda looked down. Elphaba put aside her letter. Galinda did the same. Each lost in their similar thoughts, Galinda used her best non-violent emotional release: song.

"What is this feeling, so sudden and new?" She sang softly and rolled onto her back, honestly trying to contemplate this new experience.

"I felt the moment I laid eyes on you," Elphaba, also reverting to song, sat up. This emotion was a lot more well-known to her, being she had quite a few bullying enemies over her life. Even still, she was hoping it wasn't the dread sensation that had caused so much mayhem to her and those who knew her.

"My pulse is rushing," Galinda started listed her symptoms, attempting to find the illness.

"My head is reeling," Elphaba added, fully standing. Galinda was trying to ignore her roommate until now. She squirmed on the bed and faced Elphaba.

"My face is flushing," She twisted off of the bed, less graceful than she usually was with her admirers.

"What is this feeling? Fervid as a flame, does it have a name?" Galinda and Elphaba's eyes met, sending unseen volts of electricity around the room. "Yes…" The pair had found the name of the fire.

"Loathing!" They declared, inches away, using all of their self-control to keep singing and not fight. "Unadulterated loathing!"

"For your face!" Galinda spat, determined to show this creature her inferiority.

"Your voice!" Elphaba did a very mean imitation of Galinda's bubbly tone. She called upon memories of her father's counseling to ignore Galinda's insults. 'You are everything the wicked aren't'. This also brought forth the unbidden advice of earlier that day: 'Remember to be nice to everybody'. She tried to push that thought from her mind, focusing on the other girl.

"Your clothing!" Elphaba's eyes blazed at the insult. What was wrong with her clothes?! Did it matter what you wear?!

"Let's just say, I loathe it all!" The pair jumped away, filled with the sudden urge to run away from their respective evils. Students in the hall began to wonder what was going on as the 'song fight' grew.

"Every little trait, however small, makes my very flesh begin to crawl," The pair left the room, making small movements to goad the other into violence, all the while never taking their eyes off of each other.

"With simple, utter loathing! There's a strange exhilaration in such total detestation! It's so pure, so strong!" Galinda and Elphaba were fully out in the hallway, students unable to avoid the strong voices of the pair. Those unfamiliar with their newfound hatred thought it was a lovely harmony and they should form a singing duo.

"Though I do admit it came on fast, still I do believe that it can last!" Unnoticed faces surrounded the pair, fearing a full-on brawl.

"And I will be loathing, loathing you my whole life long!"

"Dear Galinda, you are just too good!" A group of Galinda's friends came to comfort the less-than-perky blonde, and hopefully end a scrape that hadn't started.

"How do you stand it , I don't think I could!" Galinda relaxed, expecting more friends, but was utterly shocked to see the new handful of students were here to show loyalty to Elphaba. Galinda's heart hardened as she saw a few of her friends among the crowd. She would have to punish them later. Well, somehow. Maybe she would silent treat them.

"She's a terror!" Galinda's cohort declared, all eyes intent on shooting daggers at Elphaba.

"She's a tartar!" Galinda was stung at the insult from Elphaba's little gang. _Nobody_ insulted her! She was perfect! "We don't mean to show a bias…"

"But, Galinda, You're a martyr!" Galinda's friends cut off the other group's verbal attacks.

"Well…These things are sent to try us!" Galinda reveled in the sympathies of her friends.

"You guys, I'll be fine!" Elphaba scolded her cluster, surprising Galinda. If Galinda knew one thing, it was if somebody wanted to wait on you, you let them.

"Poor Gelfinba, forced to reside," The two groups clashed as they tried to say their chosen girl's name. "With someone so disgusticified! We just want to tell you, we're all on your side! We share your loathing!"

"What is this feeling, so sudden and new?" Galinda and Elphaba, surrounded by supporters, viewed the other more like a country in need of conquering that a person.

"Unadulterated loathing!" Chorused the students, never taking their eyes off of the dreaded girl, whether she was green or blonde.

"I felt the moment I laid eyes on you?" Each stood at the center of their army, trying to find weak points for attack.

"For her face, her voice, her clothing! Let's just say:"

"My pulse is rushing, my head is reeling…" The outward signs of their hatred clouded rational thought.

"We loathe it all!"

"Oh, what is this feeling?" Each returned to the safety of friends to collect themselves.

"Every little trait, however small,"

"Does it have a name?"

"Makes our very flesh begin to crawl!"

"Yes….Ahh! Loathing!" The girls were almost shouting, facing each other with their groups flanked behind them for support.

"Loathing!" The students echoed, determined to make the others back down.

"There's a strange exhilaration!"

"Loathing!"

"In such total detestation!"

"Loathing!"

"It's so pure, so strong!"

"So strong!"

"Though I do admit it came on fast, still I do believe that it can last, and I will be loathing,"

"Loathing…"

"For, forever loathing,"

"Loathing…"

"Truly deeply, loathing you!"

"Loathing YOU!"

"My whole life long!"

"Loathing! Unadulterated loathing!" Elphaba turned away as if to leave calmly. Her supporters parted, and Galinda let her guard down. Suddenly, she whipped around and shouted, hands raised terrifyingly: "Boo!"

"AAA!" Galinda screamed and fell backwards a bit. Elphaba's friends broke out laughing and congratulating her on her prank.

'Could anyone possibly have worse luck than I?' Galinda thought as her friends expressed condolences and disgust at Galinda's roommate. She turned to glare at her roommate's back as she left, surrounded by friends. 'This means war, Elphaba Thropp.'

**How'd you like it? The TWO popularity queens are to battle it out 'til the end! Do Elphaba and Galinda ever become friends? (Elphaba's pose at the end is like the image you get from The Wizard of Oz when you image search for Wicked Witch of the West.) Reviews are loved and cherished and tacked up on my wall :) so please tell me what you think! If anyone can come up with more synonyms for a group of people/students it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you to faithful readers who keep me updating in a timely fashion. I'd also like to thank- okay, I'll shut up now :). -LostOzian.**


	12. Something Bad

Elphaba and Galinda sat on opposite benches, waiting for class to start. Each was surrounded by their group, refusing to acknowledge there were other students in the classroom. The babble of conversation filled the classroom. Elphaba was doing a scan of Galinda's bench. There were a few slightly familiar faces, nobody she knew extremely well. Nessa didn't sit on either bench, yet stayed a bit closer to Elphaba's side.

"Now, class, settle down!" Dr. Dillamond entered the classroom with a stack of papers tucked under one Goat arm. "I have read your most recent essays, and I am amazed to report some progress! Although, some of us still tend to favor form over content," Elphaba drifted away from the mini-lecture about essay writing momentarily as she saw a slightly shorter boy sitting on Galinda's bench. _That's the boy Nessa was making Doe eyes at, _Elphaba thought as he passed papers around the classroom. _He pledges allegiance to Galinda. No, stop it, Elphaba! _She scolded. _This is not a war. It's a rivalry. Which is like a war. Almost. _

"Miss G-h-h-linda," Dr. Dillamond struggled to form the 'a' as he gave her paper back. It sounded like 'Glinda'. Elphaba snickered to herself. She respected and quite liked Dr. Dillamond a lot, but the idea of Galinda going through life as 'Glinda' was impossibly hilarious.

"It's Ga-linda, with a 'Ga'," she said disdainfully, practically turning up her nose at the Goat.

"Oh, yes, of course," Dr. Dillamond apologized, and then tried again. "Miss G-h-h-h-h-linda."

"I don't see what the problem is," Galinda said. "Every other professor seems to be able to pronounce my name!"

"Maybe perfecting the pronunciation of your precious name is not the sole focus of Dr. Dillamond's life. Maybe he's not like every other professor. Maybe some of us are different." Elphaba said pointedly to Galinda. There were several gasps at Elphaba's comment. Galinda took it rather smoothly, though.

"Well, it seems the artichoke is steamed," she said smoothly. More outbursts.

"I'd be hard pressed to find an artichoke with fewer brains than you," Elphaba said. The class got even more rowdy, expecting at least a verbal, if not physical, fight from the two enemies.

"Now, class! Class!" Dr. Dillamond pawed one hoof for attention. "Miss Elphaba has a point. Well, doubtless you've noticed I am the sole Animal on the faculty. Ah, a token Goat if it were, but it wasn't always this way." Dr. Dillamond became reminiscent. "Oh, dear students, how I wish you could have known this place as it once was…When one would walk these halls and hear and Antelope explicating a sonnet…Or, or a wildebeest teaching philosophics, can you see, students, what has been lost!" Not a single person spoke, but most were too busy imaging how Shiz would have smelled, even if there was a greater variety of talented Animals on the staff. "How our dear Oz is becoming less and less…well, competent. Now, what set this in motion?!" He addressed the class with a question after wallowing in memories for a little while.

"From what I read, it began with the Great Drought," Elphaba said without looking up.

"Precisely!" Dr. Dillamond said. "Food grew scarce, and people grew hungry." Somebody slipped a scrap of paper on top of Elphaba's notes. She unfolded it, and read the hurried scrawl. _Nice job with that question, Elfaba. -Deverig. _Elphaba glanced back on her bench. A boy with bronze colored hair smiled nervously. _Oh, please. Is he trying to flirt?! _Elphaba thought, a strange panic rising at the thought. She turned back to the note and replied: _You're just glad you didn't have to answer it yourself. -ElPHaba. _Elphaba folded the paper and passed it back, upset that Deverig spelled her name wrong. She turned her attention back to the lecture.

"And the question came, whom to blame?" Dr. Dillamond had circled the point on his timeline labled 'The Great Drought' several times. "Can anyone tell me what is meant by the term…'scapeGoat'?"

Elphaba raised her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw the bronze-haired boy raise his hand too, but he put it down again quickly. Dr. Dillamond sighed. "Someone besides Miss Elphaba?" He turned to Galinda's bench. Surprisingly to Elphaba, Galinda had her hand raised. "Ah! Miss G-h-h-h-linda!" Galinda put her hand down angrily.

"It's Ga-linda! With a 'GA'!" she said, flaring up at _another_ mispronunciation. "And I don't see why you can't just teach us history instead of always harping on the past!" Elphaba rolled her eyes. _History _is_ the past_, _idiotic ditz,_ Elphaba thought. Dr. Dillamond tried hard not to break out laughing.

"Well, ah, perhaps these questions I've prepared…" Dr. Dillamond flipped his chalkboard over, then froze.

'Animals should be seen and not heard,' the class read silently. The message was written in red paint that looked disturbingly like blood.

"Who is responsible for this?" Dr. Dillamond addressed the class. Elphaba got a new definition of the term 'Silence is deafening'. "I am waiting for an answer!" Elphaba glared at Galinda. Was this her idea of a sick joke? Galinda didn't notice. She just stared at the blackboard in a strange, indifferent shock. Dr. Dillamond was silent for a moment. "Very well. That will be all for today," He said. The students sat there, not believing what he had said. "You heard me! Class DISMISSED!" Students began to file out of the hall, muttering about what just happened. Elphaba stayed and looked at the chalkboard.

"Elphaba?" A few of her friends (Deverig included) and Nessa stayed behind.

"You go ahead." She waved them off. She needed to talk to Dr. Dillamond. "Animals should be seen and not heard?" Elphaba read the words off the chalkboard as if they would go away. Dr. Dillamond flinched to hear them aloud.

"Miss Elphaba, don't worry about me, go enjoy your friends." Dr. Dillamond implored, nervously cleaning up a few forgotten essays.

"That's all right, they won't miss me this once." Elphaba sat down on one of the benches again. "Would you like to share my lunch?" Elphaba unwrapped a sandwich. Dr. Dillamond's ears twitched at the sound of crinkling paper.

"Why…thank you. How kind," He took the seat next to her. Elphaba was about to offer him half the sandwich when he took the paper and began chewing on it contentedly. Still, Elphaba could tell the Goat was troubled. He set down the paper after a few bites.

"I seem to have lost my appetite…" He trailed off, trying not to look at his chalkboard.

"You shouldn't let ignorant statements like that bother you," Elphaba said. "I try not to, and I'll help you find-"

"Oh, Miss Elphaba, if only it were just a matter of words on a chalkboard..." Dr. Dillamond shook his head. "But the things one hears these days!" He scooted closer to Elphaba. "Dreadful things! I've heard of an Ox, a professor from Quox, no longer permitted to teach! Who has lost all powers of speech!"

"What?" Elphaba said suddenly. Animals always talked, why did this Ox suddenly…stop?

"Yes! And an Owl in Munchkin Rock! A vicar, with a thriving flock, forbidden to preach! Now, he only can screech!" Dr. Dillamond checked to see if they were still alone. "Only rumors, but still, enough to give pause to anyone with paws… Something bad is happening in Oz." Dr. Dillamond got up and started pacing slightly. Elphaba's jaw dropped. This wasn't right! They had the Wizard, he kept Oz wonderful.

"Something bad…happening in Oz?" Elphaba had to make sure she had heard right. Why hadn't she learned of this before now? This was serious!

"Under the surface," Dr. Dillamond said as if reading her mind. "Behind the scenes, something ba-a-a-a-d…" Dr. Dillamond started, then clasped his throat with his hooves. He started coughing, trying to clear up whatever it was that made him bleat like that. "Bad," he corrected himself as if he had never made a sound like that.

"Dr. Dillamond, are you all right?" Elphaba stood up, also understanding the severity of an Animal making its natural sounds. "Shall I fetch you a glass of water?" She headed to the door, but Dr. Dillamond stopped her.

"Oh, no, no, no," he said, hoof still at his throat. "I don't know what came over me," he tried to laugh, but it sounded fake.

"So you're saying that there are Animals who have somehow forgotten how to speak?" Elphaba rejoined her teacher. "Why haven't we heard about it? We need to raise awareness! My friends and I can organize a rally or-"

"No! No! We can't draw too much attention to ourselves, otherwise the person or people causing this will come down on us! They may keep many other Animals quiet," Dr. Dillamond leaned in to tell her this, like it was a big secret. "But I for one will never let them silence me!" The door opened, and somebody entered the room, and Dr. Dillamond looked up. "Ah, Madame Morrible!"

"Are you all right, Doctor? I heard there was some kind of disturberance in class!" Madame Morrible bustled in, then noticed Elphaba. "Miss Elphaba, you're still here?" She turned her back to the chalkboard she hadn't noticed yet. Dr. Dillamond took the opportunity to flip it back over. "I would have thought you would have been on your way to my seminar by now." Elphaba gulped. She _did_ have the seminar right after Dr. Dillamond's class today.

"Yes, Madame, I would be…" Dr. Dillamond was making motions behind Madame Morrible's back. Elphaba immediately got the message: _Be quiet! Don't say anything!_ Didn't Dr. Dillamond just say to never be silent?

"But…?" Madame Morrible pressed. Elphaba looked away. "I hope I haven't misplaced my trust in you…Magic is a demanderating mistress, and if one's ambition is to meet the Wizard…" That settled it. Elphaba had to stay quiet. "I think not everybody sees my point." Madame Morrible glanced at Dr. Dillamond, then left. Elphaba turned to her teacher.

"I have to go," Elphaba was about to follow her, when and idea struck her. "Dr. Dillamond, if something bad is happening to the Animals, someone's got to tell the Wizard. He'll make it right. That's why we have a Wizard. So nothing bad…"

"I hope you're right," Dr. Dillamond said dryly.

"Nothing all that bad…" They said together, laughing off the severity of the situation. It was only rumors, nothing…

"Nothing truly ba-a-a-a-ad…" Dr. Dillamond added, but bleated again. All frivolous judgments disappeared like smoke in the wind. "Sorry," he whispered, barely daring to truly speak. "Bad," He looked Elphaba in the eyes, begging her not to say anything, yet still too afraid of his own voice to tell her outright. Sadly, Elphaba nodded slightly, and the professor left for some rest.

"It couldn't happen here in Oz…." She voiced to the empty room, trying to believe it couldn't and never would.

**I messed up some of Dr. Dillamond's lines because the only clip I could find with the classroom scene had poor audio. If someone would be willing to send me an offical script, I would give them candy. Or a hug. Whichever they wanted ;). School started again, so bear with me for a little while as I write in class. Also, my all-containing USB drive is lost away from me, so any stories I had on that are Missing in Action, which slows updates. I'm sorry I'm letting you guys down , (crying). Reviews are happy, so send them and I will respond to all that I can. And Fiyero _is coming_! Hold your Horses! It's his song next… -LostOzian**


	13. Dancing Through Life Part 1

Fiyero (**You heard me: Fiyero! The long-awaited prince!**) took advantage of his dark sunglasses and feigned sleep for the last few minutes before his formal arrival at Shiz University. The open-top carriage bumped over stones in the cobbled road. He glanced about, bored, trying to see how students on THIS campus amused themselves.

"ELPHABA! LOOK OUT!" Somebody shouted, unintentionally scaring Fiyero. He looked past the driver to see a girl staring at his coach in fear. She practically dove out of the way, the driver swerving hazardously to avoid collision. Fiyero sat up and pulled on the driver's arm.

"Stop!" He said, hopping out before the carriage fully slowed. He was about to run to the girl, when he noticed two things for the first time. Thing one: She was green. Thing two: In diving out of the way, her skirt had lifted a _tiny_ bit, showing a shapely (green) leg. _This girl's hotter than she's letting on. _Fiyero thought as he went to assist the damsel that was currently out of immediate distress.

"Your driver just about ran me over," The girl sat up and dusted her navy jacket off. Fiyero took a good, long look at her face. It was actually quite pretty, if you didn't mind the fact it looked like she had been out on a stormy sea for far too long.

"Sorry about that," Fiyero said, offering his hand to help her up. She ignored it and stood on her own. "Can I make it up to you somehow? A night out, perhaps?" Fiyero invented a pickup line around the occasion. She faced him and looked him over.

"You're that Winkie prince," she said, then laughed cynically. "The scandalacious Fiyero Tiggular has to run a girl over to get a date? Get a life." She turned and walked away, received almost instantly by a group of other girls.

"Okay, when will I be picking you up? Eight? Great, see you then, Miss…?" Fiyero said to himself sadly, the reality that he had just been turned down by a girl sinking in. He turned and was instantly face-to-face with a more normal pretty girl. Shoulder-length blonde ringlets framed a perfect complexion accented wonderfully with makeup, short enough to be cute, but not freakishly short, and was fashionably dressed. Still, Fiyero didn't feel the same spark he did when usually in the company of beautiful women. It was like comparing a canary to a peacock. She flipped her curls attractively.

"Looking for something or…" she paused for effect. "Someone?"

"Yes, ah, some sort of history class?" Fiyero pulled out a class schedule from his little shoulder bag.

"Oh, yes, that's in the history building, which is _this way_," A boy with dark hair about the same height as the blonde girl started to pull him away from the girl. She instantly took the other arm and started leading him in the opposite direction, explaining:  
"That class just ended!" She said cheerily, ignoring the other boy completely.

"Well, perfect timing," Fiyero hadn't really wanted to come to a new school and immediately be stuffed in some boring class. "Tell me, what does one do for fun around here?" He questioned, still thinking of the green girl.

"Well…ah…" The blonde girl tried to decide what to say.

"We've been studying!" The boy declared, proudly holding up a book. Fiyero glanced around quickly. All of the students in the courtyard backed up the boy's story. They were reading heavy books, scribbling in official-looking folders, and chewing on short pencils. Fiyero gasped dramatically.

"What? Well, it seems the responsibility to corrupt my fellow students falls to me." He put one arm on the diminutive boy's shoulder. "Fortunately, I'm up for the task. The trouble with 'schools' is they always try to teach the wrong lessons," The girl was taking in his every word. The boy looked distrustful. "Believe me; I've been kicked out of enough of them to know." The boy's face widened in alarm. Fiyero was no delinquent, but he hated schoolwork and didn't bother. "They want you to become less callow, less shallow," The girl's eyes lit up. Clearly she liked this new philosophy. "But I say, 'Why abide stressing?'" Fiyero plucked the book from the boy's hands and tossed it in the closest ditch. "Stop studying strife," He ran after the precious literature, shocked that someone would do that to a book. The blonde girl moved in expectantly. "And learn to live the unexamined life…" Students began to look up from their schoolwork, curious at who was disrupting their study time.

"Dancing through life," He advanced into the cloud of students, all trying to keep their eyes on their papers, but dying to listen to the newcomer.

"Skimming the surface, gliding where turf is smooth," Several of the students snuck peeks at this new self-proclaimed god of entertainment whom had arrived at Shiz. Fiyero felt back in his element after his turn-down, he skipped in step, dancing the way he always did whenever there was a blip on his radar he didn't like.

"Life is painless, for the brainless, why think to hard? When it's so soothing…" There were a few tentative believers scattered about, nowhere near enough to get a party started. He continued, hoping the others may abandon their studies soon.

"Dancing through life, no need to tough it, when you can slough it off as I do," Fiyero started adding in more elaborate dance moves, slow spins and little hop steps. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a few people actually close their books and pay attention to him. _That's the ticket,_ he thought. First a trickle, then a flow, then a flood. He had seen it again and again at the various schools.

"Nothing matters but knowing nothing matters. It's just life! So keep dancing through!" Some of the students got up and started joining in Fiyero's little impromptu dance. _There we go! _He thought, joining in the dancing. Still, a few people stayed sitting, forcing themselves not to join in the fun. Fiyero tried to break their focus again.

"Dancing through life, swaying and sweeping, and always keeping cool," The blonde worked her way back to Fiyero, the short boy following her like a little puppy.

"Life is fraught-less, when you're thoughtless," Fiyero used the smartest words he knew to try to appeal to these studious types. He picked up another forgotten book and pointed at it.

"Those who don't, try never look foolish, dancing through life!" He tossed the book back to the general area of its papery friends.

"Mindless and careless, make sure you wear less trouble and rife!" He swung himself up onto the cane of a statue, the height unintentionally making his pseudo-speech more prominent.

"Woes are fleeting; blows are glancing, when you're dancing through life!" The whole courtyard was on its feet, dancing and laughing as if they had never known what fun was. He smiled down at students. Now for the issue of partying.

"So, what's the most swankified place in town?" he asked casually, still swinging idly on the statue's cane.

"That would be the OzDust ballroom," the blonde said perkily, anticipating what was likely to happen, and what she desperately wanted to be a part of.

"Sounds perfect!" Fiyero jumped down from the statue to make his announcement, the well practiced speech fresh in his mind from when it got him thrown out of the last school for mistaking a teacher for a student.

"Let's go down to the OzDust ballroom, we'll meet there later tonight!" He paused. A few faces said 'Well, I don't know,' so Fiyero added to the promise of a party. "We can dance 'til it's light, find the prettiest girl, give her a whirl," Fiyero was thinking of the green-skinned girl, and how she would look on a dance floor, laughing and smiling and having a great time. The blonde, assuming he meant her in saying 'prettiest girl' advanced again for his attention, but was whisked away by her little puppy, as Fiyero was coming to think of the boy that followed her everywhere. She promptly spun him off for another partner, and started to approach Fiyero again.

"Right on down to the OzDust ballroom," Fiyero was very close to her again. She _was _pretty, but there was no turning back for him after having seen something better. He didn't like her the way he normally would.

"Come on, follow me…You'll be happy to be there, Dancing through life!" The students' voices joined with his on 'Dancing through life'.

"Down at the OzDust!" They continued, the prospect of a party filling their hearts and minds.

"If only because dust is what we come to!" Fiyero said to add to the carefree attitude that you can do whatever you wanted because it didn't matter.

"Nothing matters, but knowing nothing matters! It's just life!" The students were learning quickly from this new teacher, reveling in the release of his lessons.

"So keep dancing through!" Fiyero added, and the students ran off to get ready for Fiyero's party. It left him, the blonde girl and her puppy, and a shy-looking girl in a chair. The blonde girl's puppy tapped on her shoulder.

"M-Miss Galinda?" Fiyero excused himself to let the puppy talk to 'Miss Galinda' and watch what they were going to say. "I hope you'll save at least one dance for me…I'll be right there, right by your side, waiting all night." _This guy is pathetic,_ Fiyero couldn't help thinking. _She's too creeped out by him stalking her to actually like him. _

"Oh…that's so kind, Bick…" Galinda said, almost squirming at the thought of him staying so close like that.

"Boq," he corrected gently. _That's a…Munchkin name._ Fiyero deduced. _I guess that's why he's kinda short…_

"But do you know what would be even kinder?" She turned Boq to look at the girl in the chair. Fiyero, in his kick of thinking of girls as birds, imagined the girl in the chair as a maybe a dove- shy, small, kind of plain, yet beautiful. He looked again at her legs, then thought: _A dove without wings._ "See that tragically beautiful girl…the one in the chair…" she turned him back around. "It seems so unfair we should go on a spree, and not she." She lifted her finger to her chin in mock thought. "Gee, I know _someone _would be my hero, if that _someone _were to go invite her…" Boq stood there for a few seconds, then got the idea she was trying to give him.

"I could invite her!" he exclaimed, happy at this little chance to impress Galinda.

"Oh, Bick! Really? You would do that for me?" she acted as if he had come up with this idea himself.

"I would do anything for you, Miss Galinda," he promised, then approached the other girl. "Excuse me? Miss Nessarose…?" He turned back to Galinda to make sure he got the name right. "I have something I'd like to ask you!" He wheeled her away, the dove clearly smitten with the puppy. Fiyero couldn't help smiling at the sight. Unrequited love was a dangerous tool.

"You're good," He said truthfully. She handled that so well, the two didn't know they were being toyed with.

"I don't know what you mean," She laughed, twirling her little purse flirtatiously. "But, I do happen to be free tonight, so…"

Fiyero was tempted to tell her 'Good for you, now do you know a girl with green skin?' but remembered what she had said when he asked her out. 'Get a life.' Fiyero sighed, and gave Galinda what she wanted.

"So I'll be picking you up around eight?" he asked casually, lamenting the fact his date won't be green.

"After all, now that we've met one another, it's clear we deserve each other." She sang, working herself into his arms. Fiyero didn't protest, but he didn't honestly welcome her either. "You're perfect," she told him, looking up lovingly through heavily mascaraed eyelashes.

"You're perfect," he said, thinking of others whom in his mind were perfect.

"So we're perfect together! Born to be forever dancing through life!" He spun her around once, then let her go prepare for the party. He let out a sigh and went to get and unpack his bags.

"So, Miss Elphaba, are you going to this party?" Elphaba sped up a little bit. Why was Deverig _following _her?! It was annoying, like a fly in your ear you couldn't swat without slapping yourself.

"Actually, somebody asked me," she said, keeping her eyes trained on Madame Morrible's little cottage. "But I said no because I'm _not going_."

"Who asked you?" Deverig sprinted to keep up.

"Fiyero Tiggular," She was almost running now. If she got to Nessa, Deverig would go away.

"Sweet Oz, he asked you?!" Deverig stopped. "Why'd you say no?!" Elphaba kept going, thankful Deverig was so distracted.

"He had to almost run me over first!" Elphaba reached the door and knocked three times. Madame Morrible opened it.

"Hello, Madame, I've come to visit Nessa." Elphaba said.

"Do come in, Miss Elphaba," Madame Morrible waved Elphaba in to the lavishly furnished cottage. It reminded her of the governor's mansion back in Munchkinland, except built for one instead of a family.

"Elphaba!" Nessa wheeled herself into the front hall. Elphaba bent down and hugged her sister. Madame Morrible discretely left to give the sisters some room.

"Oh, Elphaba! The most wonderful thing happened!" Nessa had never seemed so happy before, it took Elphaba by surprise. "I'm going to the party! And _Boq_ asked me!"

"He did?" Elphaba squatted beside the wheelchair.

"Yes, at first he was too shy to ask me, but once Galinda encouraged him-"  
"Oh no, not Galinda!" Elphaba stood up. "This is destined for trouble if she had-"

"Elphaba!" Nessa tried to scold, the effect lessened by the fact she was close to tears because of this outbreak against her date's matchmaker. "Can't you put aside your hatred for once and think of my happiness? It's been so much harder for me to fit in that it was for you, and I'm about to have the first truly happy night of my life, and I owe it to Galinda." Elphaba still stood firm, discontent written all over her face. Nessa grabbed her sister's hand.

"Finally, for this one night, I'm about to have a fun night with this Munchkin boy Galinda found for me, and I only wish there were something I could do for her to repay her. Elphaba, see we deserve each other, and Galinda helped it come true! We deserve each other, me and Boq." She looked wistfully off into the distance as if Boq were in the very room. She looked back up at her sister. "Please, Elphaba…try to understand."

Elphaba didn't know what to think. The self-centered obnoxious Galinda put others before herself for once in her life. Was there actually a brain beneath the blonde, a heart with room for others? It didn't seem as impossible as it had when she first met Galinda. She kneeled beside her sister.

"I do…" Nessa smiled, the glorious hopeful smile of somebody who just might have all of their dreams come true. "C'mon, Nessie." Elphaba stood and took her sisters chair, guiding her over to the wardrobe. "Let's get you ready for a party."

"Do me up," Galinda said as Pfannee drew the corset of the dress tightly, accenting Galinda's chest. "Now, I must accessorize myself for: Fiyero!"

"You're still not sore about the news?" Pfannee asked Galinda as she tried to decide which pair of pink shoes matched her dress best. "Deverig told Meritina who mentioned to Yvnotte who came to Triztri who told me that Fiyero had asked _greenie_ first!"

"Not at all!" Galinda said cheerily as she bounced back to the dresser to find her pink hair flower. "He didn't know I existed yet. And if greenie can't tell when something good comes her way, she loses," Galinda secured the flower and pinned in her hair. "And I win."

"Galinda, what is _Oz_ is this?" ShenShen held a round hatbox and a black pointed hat by the tip disgustedly as if it got too close to her it would leave black streaks all over her.

"Pretend you didn't see that," Galinda snatched the hat and held it with equal contempt. "My granny is always giving me the most hideodeous hats. I'd give it away, but I don't hate anyone that much."

ShenShen and Pfannee exchanged looks. "Yes, you do!" They smiled malevolently. Galinda's eyes widened. _Greenie._

"I couldn't…could I?" Galinda looked down at the hat. It would be a tremendous joke if Elphaba wore it…she would have the sense not to, right? Somebody knocked. ShenShen and Pfannee hid themselves in the room.

"Guys!" Galinda hissed. The door opened, and in came Elphaba.

"Galinda? Listen, my sister and I were talking about you just now, and-" Elphaba began sheepishly, but Galinda cut her off. _Do I want to get rid of this or not?_

"And I was just talking about you! I thought you might want..." Galinda barely faltered. _Please let her have enough sense not to take me seriously. _"…To wear this hat to the party tonight!" She held up the pointed hat. She could see a lot of dust on the hat, and hoped Elphaba wouldn't notice. "It's really, uh…" _Ugly. Unattractive. Pointy…_ "Sharp! Don't you think? You know black is this year's pink!" She gestured first to the hat and then to her pink outfit. Elphaba raised one eyebrow. "You deserve each other, this hat and you! You're both so…" _Strange. Unusual. Nerd-like…_ "Smart! You deserve each other, so, here!" Galinda pushed the hat into Elphaba's hands. She took it, stunned at the sudden generosity. "Out of the goodness of my heart!" Galinda left the room, despite the fact that she had completely no makeup on and was nowhere near finished preparing.

Elphaba looked down at the hat. She had never seen one like it before. Well, maybe one_ like_ it in an antiques store, but she hadn't given it a second glance. Galinda gave her sister a date. Galinda gave her a hat. Elphaba shifted uncomfortably on her feet. All of this made Elphaba think again of her father. 'Remember to be nice to everybody,' and here was Galinda being a patron saint to them. Did she want to end the rivalry? Life would be so much simpler if they did. A slow smile formed on Elphaba's lips. She glanced at a clock. Seven twenty-two. There was so much to do and so little time…

She was going to go to a party, with or without a date. Goodnesses should always be repaid.

**I hope you're happy now! There's Fiyero, and all that good stuff you wanted in this chapter. Next is the OzDust ballroom, where things get UGLY!!! And not just Elphaba's hat…(Shifty eyes) I found the USB drive (!!!), which means this gets posted today (Thursday) as opposed to sometime in the future (The weekend). Review me! Pwease? Thank you all for everything, and keep reading! I'll keep posting for you all. -LostOzian. **


	14. Dancing Through Life Part 2

The young pairs twirled around gracefully, dancing so freely it was impossible to imagine that pain and strife existed in the world. Fiyero swirled and jumped with them, Galinda surprising him with her practiced grace on easily six inch stiletto heels. The night was perfect, everybody was having the time of their lives as the students of Shiz lost themselves in the music.

Nessa sat in the corner as Boq brought them both punch. She sipped cautiously, not sure what she was so nervous about. Elphaba had helped her get ready, and a few people commented on her dress. She was one of only two girls in pink, the other Galinda.

"What's in the punch?" She asked, hoping to strike up a conversation with her escort.

"Lemons and melons and pears," Boq recited, staring off in the distance. Nessa couldn't follow to who he was watching in the spinning flurry of dancers.

"Oh my!" She said. She could have sworn there was a hint of orange in there. She was about to comment on it when Boq put down his glass on the tray of a passing waiter and drew his eyes away from whoever he was staring at.

"Listen, Nessa?" He said concernedly, as if something had been troubling him all night.

"Yes?" Nessa sat up a little straighter and tried to look poised and elegant. Elphaba had said she looked elegant right as she left, but her sister seemed in a hurry to get somewhere else.

"Uh, Nessa, I've got something to confess: A reason why, well," He drew back a little bit, trying to find the right words to describe what he wanted to say. "Why I asked you here tonight. And I know it isn't fair-"

"I think I know why," Nessa also felt incredibly shy, like she was admitting to something she had done wrong.

"You do?" He seemed surprised at her understanding. Nessa nodded. There could be only one reason why he would pay attention to her.

"It's because I'm in this chair," Nessa blinked back tiny tears as she mentioned her handicap. It was the only thing that made her less than perfect for him. "And you felt sorry for me." Boq just stood there, staring at her. Nessa felt her face get hot from timidity. "Well, isn't that right?" Boq kind of snorted.

"No! It's because…" He saw something just behind Nessa's chair. Galinda and Fiyero were making out in a corner of the ballroom, and from the look of it had been for the past few minutes. He felt his blood boiling, how could he take her from him?

_Someone would be my hero if that someone were to go invite her,_ Galinda's voice, like honey to his ears, came back. He would make her notice him, he thought with hard resolve. He would give Nessarose such a happy night that Galinda wouldn't be able to help but notice him.

"Ga…because, because you're so beautiful!" Boq declared loudly, trying to keep his eyes on Nessa and not find out if Galinda heard him. Nessa melted.

"Oh, Boq! I think you're wonderful, and we deserve each other, don't you see this is our chance?" She wheeled a little closer, and Boq almost started to panic. _Galinda,_ he thought. _You're doing this for Galinda._ "We deserve each other, don't we Boq?"

"You know what?" He got an idea that for sure would be so noticeable a blind Donkey couldn't ignore it. "Let's dance!"

Nessa gasped. "What?"

Boq took her chair and rushed out onto the dance floor. "Let's dance!" Nessa didn't know what he meant. She suddenly found herself sitting in the middle of a crowd of people who could walk and run and were dancing, and had no clue what Boq was going to do. He bowed to her, and she pulled at her skirt to imitate a curtsy. He began to dance around the chair as if Nessa were his partner. She tried to do a few of the hand motions halfheartedly, her legs lying motionless in her chair, useless. Suddenly, he took her chair again and spun it so fast Nessa could feel her hair swishing, almost like she was actually dancing. He stopped again to fulfill the boy's part, then helped Nessa dance in her chair again.

_There's no way Galinda could ignore this, _he thought as Nessa laughed as she danced for the first time.

Galinda did pull away from Fiyero in time to see Boq and Nessa dancing. _I thought Bick and Nessarose were well suited. _She smiled. _I'm glad he got over me so quickly, too. _Somebody tapped her on the shoulder.

"Madame Morrible?!" Galinda gasped. The esteemed headmistress was here at a college party in the OzDust?! "What are you doing here?!"

"I have something for you," she said stiffly, and produced from one of her sleeves a long, thin piece of white wood, decoratively carved at one end.

"Madame! A training wand!" Galinda almost squealed. She took the slim wood tenderly. "Oh, how can I express my gratitution?"

"Don't thank me, _this_ was your roommate's idea, not mine." Madame Morrible drawled slightly, not at all keen to have the perky blonde as her student. Galinda nearly dropped the delicate wand.

"What? Elphaba's?" Last time she checked, they hated each other more deeply than she had dreamed possible.

"Yes…Miss Elphaba requested that I include you in sorcery class," Madame Morrible's voice was coated with disgust that she had ever agreed to this. "She insisted I tell you this very night or she would quit the seminar."

"But why?" Galinda couldn't see any reason, but then it struck her. She glanced out onto the dance floor to Nessa and Boq. _Nessa is Elphaba's sister. _Galinda thought. _She thought I did that for Nessa, not to get rid of Bick. _She remembered times when she was a little girl and she would bring candy to school, giving away the pieces she hated freely as her classmates thought she was being the nicest person in Oz.

"I have no idea," Madame Morrible narrowed her eyes, assessing the blonde girl's apparent talents. "My personal opinion is that you do not have what it takes. I hope you prove me wrong." Madame Morrible started to leave. "I doubt you will." Galinda stood there, dumbfounded, that she could do things she thought were favors to herself and end up with such a reward.

"What is it?" Fiyero approached after the headmistress left.

"I got what I wanted," Galinda said. She looked out onto Boq and Nessa again. They looked so happy.

"Well, then what's the matter?" Galinda looked back at him. _Right,_ she thought, smiling her trademark perfect grin. _Dance through life. _

"Nothing," she said happily, almost convincing herself it was true.

"Good. Let's dance," Fiyero and Galinda joined in the dancing once again, but suddenly there was a collection of gasps and laughter. Fiyero looked to the top of the OzDust's entrance staircase to see the green girl, without a date, looking over the crowd in a truly _ridiculous_ pointed black hat. He, the green girl, and Galinda were the only ones not laughing now.

"Who in Oz is that?" Fiyero asked, hoping Galinda knew her. Galinda pulled him away to a corner of the ballroom.

"It's my roommate, please, don't stare," Drat, so Galinda _could_ have told him more about her. Too late now…

"I can't help it," he said, keeping his gaze on the newcomer as he was being dragged away. _She's beautiful._ She wasn't very fashionably dressed- A simple dark green frock with only a crisscross pattern on the front, and the hat was absurd, but standing there alone made her look so graceful and attractive. Fiyero wished there was an easy way to ditch Galinda and spend the rest of the night with her.

Elphaba descended into the hall slowly, scanning the guests for her friends. They all looked on at her like she was crazy. _It's the hat,_ Elphaba thought. _Galinda tricked me into thinking this was a beautiful hat. It's ugly. _How could she ever have trusted that girl, her enemy! She gave her a hat and Elphaba felt the need to get her into sorcery class, and then it turns out the hat is appalling! She stood in the middle of the dance floor, and began to dance slowly by herself, trying to hold back tears. _My friends won't acknowledge I'm here and it's because of Galinda. _

"I'll say this much," Fiyero commented quietly. "She doesn't give a twig what anyone else thinks." The more he found out about her, the more he wanted to be _with_ her.

Galinda had turned her back to her roommate.

"Of course she does…" she said softly, barely daring to speak. "She just pretends not to." She bit her lip, smudging the pale lipstick on her teeth deftly. "I feel awful." Fiyero turned to her sharply.

"You mean this is your fault?" Galinda stood in silence, which was all the answer he needed.

_Oh, how horrible I've been!_ Galinda thought, a single tear falling down her cheek. _I went and made a complete _idiot_ out of her! I've got to make this right…_ With her new resolve, she turned to face Elphaba-

-And nearly fainted.

"May I have this dance?" Fiyero bowed slightly, extending his hand. Elphaba regarded it suspiciously. Galinda felt the heat leave her fingers, panic waves billowing inside her very soul.

Elphaba took the hand, stiffly curtsied, and let go. Galinda wondered if this is what it felt like when you died.

Fiyero considered something for a moment, then began to dance the same way Elphaba had, making minor adjustments so that it was a dance for pairs. Elphaba watched him detachedly at first, but then saw that he wasn't making fun of her and filled the partner's part. Eventually, other couples joined in, doing what was soon to be a new dance craze started by the Winkie and the Greenie. Before long, the whole floor was filled with people following Fiyero and Elphaba, but Galinda saw only the two of them. She sprinted out to the nearest entrance, stumbling now on her heels, shaking from head to toe. _It's not supposed to be like this! _Galinda's tears fell openly as she cried and ran out into the night, hopelessly alone. _I'm the one who gets everything! MY dreams come true! It doesn't happen like _this

**Dun dun dunnnn! I'm torturing you all, aren't I? It's more fun than you think. I wonder if I'm going to get negative reviews because of this…you people can be so _sore_ about dramatic cliffhangers: ) Well, I promise to update very soon. Especially with an ending like this. Hmm…Neah. Well, keep reading and writing! -LostOzian.**


	15. Popular

Elphaba unlocked the door casually; not at all surprised to see Galinda was back. She was sitting on her bed, still in her party dress, with her heels and a training wand discarded in the corner. What did surprise her was that she was trying to look studious while reading _OZ_ magazine with the headline "Emerald Scandal" In shimmering lime green letters with candid pictures of two celebrities under it. Galinda glanced up, trying to seem disinterested.

"Did you have a nice time?" she asked flatly, as if she didn't care about the answer.

"Yes, it was an enjoyable party." Elphaba knew Galinda was pressing for details about the party she jumped ship from, and decided she wouldn't play that game. "I thought the punch had too much lemon in it, personally, but most people liked it." Galinda fumed that Elphaba wasn't telling her what she wanted to know.

"Was that your first party?" Galinda tried to pretend she was still enveloped in her magazine.

"No, but it was my first college party," Elphaba removed the pointed hat she had refused to take off almost the entire night and placed it on a shelf in her wardrobe reverently.

"We've barely been here a _week_. There haven't _been_ other parties yet." Galinda let her acidic hatred seep into her tone of voice. Elphaba shrugged nonchalantly.

"It's still my first college party, whether there have been others before it or not." Elphaba began to busy herself with other little matters, making sure all of her socks were cleaned off the floor and trying to find her latest reading book.

"How can you just stand there and act so normal right after ruining my _life_!" Galinda suddenly accused, not able to take the apathetic silence. Elphaba blinked.

"I ruined your life?" Elphaba repeated unbelievingly. "Your life looks fine to me."

"I meant Fiyero!" Galinda stood up and stared at Elphaba. "You meant to steal him from me!"

"Galinda, I said no to him! I don't want Fiyero!"

"He danced with you!" Galinda was almost screaming. "_YOU_! And he was my date!" Hot tears started to run involuntarily down her face. "You planned it all!"

"He probably would have worshipped you the rest of the night if you hadn't run off like that!" Elphaba's voices stayed level and even as her roommate prepared for a hissy fit that always won in the past. "It was _one dance._" Elphaba took a step forward as if approaching a frightened animal. Sentient Animals were too smart for such petty things. Galinda backed up a little, too, furious at the green one, and Elphaba stopped.

"He saw something he didn't think was right," Elphaba explained. "He fixed it, and had no reason to stay with me once the problem was fixed."

"But you…you…." Galinda struggled to argue against this.

"If you want him 'back', you can have him. If he has any other ideas, I'll _tell _him to." Elphaba said. There was too much going on in her life for a _stupid _boy who probably could barely take care of himself. There was Nessa and her new obsession, magic classes, other classes, reading for her studies, reading for the sake of reading, and hanging around with her friends if her eyes started to hurt from reading.

Galinda blinked, the ghosts of tears drying themselves. Without warning, she squealed and ran to hug her roommate.

"I have been the most immoraliest person in all Oz," Galinda sobbed into Elphaba's shoulder, not quite able to lean her head on top of it. "and you have the self-respect to be _good_ to me!" Elphaba didn't really know what to do. Nessa was never able to hug her so abruptly like this, and she never just 'gave away hugs' except to Nessa and father. Desperately thinking, Elphaba tried to pat Galinda on the back.

"I didn't really _want_ to give Nessa a date," Galinda confessed to her roommate, hoping she wouldn't pull away. "I just wanted to get rid of Bick," Galinda pulled up her face again. "And I'm so, so sorry about the hat,"

"I like the hat," Elphaba said. "It's just no one else does." Galinda laughed her famous bubbly laugh, having forgiven her roommate completely.

"I know!" Galinda pulled Elphaba down onto her bed. "Let's tell each other something we've _never_ told _anyone_ else before! I'll go first," Galinda smoothed out a few creases in her dress as if making a public announcement instead of telling a private secret. "Fiyero and I are going to be…_married_!" Galinda dived into the pillows, squealing like an overexcited Mouse. Elphaba gaped.

"He's asked you already?!" She exclaimed.

"Oh, no. He doesn't know yet," Galinda picked her head up for a few moments before diving back into the pillow.

"I guess that's why you thought I 'ruined your life'." Elphaba shook her head at Galinda's girlish antics. Galinda pulled her head out of the pillow and sat next to Elphaba soberly.

"I really am sorry I thought that," Galinda leaned on Elphaba's shoulder. _I wonder if this is what real 'girly' girls do in their spare time,_ Elphaba thought, still getting used to Galinda's openness. She sat up abruptly and stared at Elphaba excitedly. "Now you!"

"I don't know what to tell you," Elphaba laughed softly.

"Oh, come on, everybody has secrets!" Galinda insisted, bouncing on the mattress, more hyper than Elphaba had ever seen anyone before.

"You've set a pretty high standard." Elphaba said exasperatedly.

"Then I'll ask you questions!" Galinda reached deftly under Elphaba's pillow and pulled out a small bottle filled with green liquid. "Like why do you sleep with this under your pillow every night?"

"Hey, give that back," Elphaba reached for the bottle, but Galinda lifted it away.

"Nope, not until you tell me!" Elphaba reached again, but Galinda stood up and started dangling it above her seated roommate.

"Give it!" Elphaba stood up, and Galinda lowered the bottle and passed it to the other hand.  
"No!"

"It was my mother's!" Elphaba snatched the bottle back and retreated to her bed.

"Oh." Galinda looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry."

"It's all right," Elphaba sat up and stowed the bottle under her pillow again. "She died a long time ago." Galinda sat back down.

"Tell me about what happened after…you and Fiyero danced." Galinda asked fearfully. Even if she had forgiven her roommate, she hadn't forgotten and was still afraid of what could happen.

_The dance ended, and the pair was applauded. The musicians took a small break as people gossiped about this new craze. Fiyero excused himself for a moment, and searched the ballroom thoroughly. Elphaba entertained herself talking to Nessa and Boq when he returned, a coy smile on his lips._

_"Galinda's gone," He said more happily than Elphaba would have liked. _

_"Was something wrong?" Elphaba asked. _

_"I shouldn't have come with her," he stared at her intently, trying to mutely say what was on his mind: _I should have come with you.

"He searched for you fervently, and for quite a long time." Elphaba selected her words carefully, trying not to enrage Galinda. She was tired of fighting with her roommate, and wanted everything to be peaceful, no more ill-wishing glances at the other from the most extreme corners of the room.

"Did he dance with you again?" Galinda tensed nervously.

_Uh oh…_Elphaba thought.

_It was like having a something stuck to your shoe. Wherever you went, it went, and never complained. Elphaba would go for punch, and Fiyero would be there by the time she arrived with two cups in hand. She felt ready to dance again, he was waiting with is hand ready for her to take. The attention was flattering, but Elphaba couldn't find the words to tell him to stop. _He's not my kind of guy, _Elphaba said. _We'd both have to change a _lot_ before we'd be well suited. He and Galinda were perfect…

"A few times," Elphaba took out the 'too many' for Galinda's sake.

"Did he dance with anyone else?" Galinda pressed. Elphaba saw her hands fidget nervously.

_"One more?" Fiyero asked eagerly as a new song began to play. _This would make four times in a row! _Elphaba thought. _There are other girls- _single_ girls- here!

_"I need to sit one out," Elphaba flushed from all of the attention and her commonplace excuse. "I'm a bit tired." _

_"Me too," Boq piped up. "Nessa, could we skip this one?" Nessa nodded sadly. Fiyero also appeared put out. _

_"How about you two dance once?" Elphaba looked from her sister to Fiyero. "No reason both of you should stop because we need a rest."_

_Fiyero shrugged, but still remained melancholy. "All right," he said and bowed low to Nessa. "Miss Nessarose?" Nessa did her new curtsy proudly._

_"Master Fiyero," She giggled once at the formalities as he took her chair onto the floor, but didn't' smile. Elphaba found a more stable chair at the edge and slumped down in it, Boq in one next to her._

_"Her chair getting too hard to push?" She asked sympathetically._

_"Not exactly," Boq said. "I…just don't like her that way." He gazed out sadly at Nessa being spun by Fiyero, both of them enjoying themselves but secretly wishing it was someone else. _

_"Neither do I," Elphaba leaned her elbows on her knees, her hat tipping a tiny bit. "It's pretty sad things turn out like this, with someone liking you…"_

_"Without liking her." Boq finished as both of them breathed a collectively dismal sigh._

_"Except in my case it's a 'him'." Elphaba said pointedly. _

_"Whatever," Boq said. _

"Yeah, there were several other girls there without dates, but there wasn't anything remotely serious." _At least not if I can help it. _

"One more…" Galinda examined Elphaba critically. "Do you have any _other_ colors appropriate to wear to a party?" She looked down at the green girl's dress, trying hard not to make a face.

"What?" Elphaba said, shocked at the sudden turn of conversation.

"I take that as a no," Galinda readjusted herself on Elphaba's bed. "The way I see it, there are two kinds of popular."

"I never knew you could have a philosophy about reputations," Elphaba put in. Ignoring her, Galinda continued.

"There's the nice-to-all, aren't I so-o-o goody-goody that everybody can't help but coo at popularity," Galinda drawled on in her long description, then added shortly: "That's you, and the glamorous, gorgeous, it-girl, social butterfly, everybody wants to be her, superstar popularity, the best and truest kind there is!" She made it sound far superior to Elphaba's 'brand' of fame. "That's me! And you see, Elphie,"Galinda stopped short. "It _is _all right if I call you Elphie?"

Elphaba stared. "It's a _little_ perky…"

"Good! You need perky. And you can call me: Galinda!" She tossed her hair upon saying her name.

"Everybody calls you Galinda." Elphaba pointed out.

"Now you can to. Though, Elphie, now that we're friends I've decided to make you my new _project_!" The newly dubbed Elphie raised an eyebrow. Project? Weren't projects for classes?

"You…really…don't…have to…do…that…" She stumbled, still trying to figure out exactly what Galinda meant by 'project'.

"I know!" Galinda squealed in anticipation. "That's what makes me so nice!" An intense feeling that she wouldn't like what was coming next flooded Elphaba.

"Whenever I see someone less fortunate than I," Galinda began gallantly, as if trying to belittle her merits. "And let's face it: who isn't less fortunate than I? My tender heart tends to start to bleed." She got up off the bed again, turning around in short little steps. "And when someone needs a makeover, I simply have to take over,"

Elphaba froze. A _makeover!? _So that's what it meant to be a project! When did she ever _agree_ to this?!

_Oh, yeah. I didn't,_ Elphaba thought.

"I know, I _know_, exactly what they need…" Galinda approached Elphaba again with an artist's eye.

"And even in your case," Galinda took off her new friend's glasses, taking in the new appearance. After a long pause, she put the glasses back on the jaded nose. "Though it's the toughest case I've yet to face, don't worry! I'm determined to succeed…" Galinda invited Elphaba to stand with her and see her new vision. Reluctantly, Elphaba joined the eccentric blonde in her delusions.

"Follow my lead, and yes indeed, you will be: Popular!" Sheer joy flowed out of Galinda's eyes; she was in her element now. "You're gonna be popular! I'll teach you the proper ploys when you talk to boys, little ways to flirt and flounce!" She spun Elphaba over to her bed, 'The Land of Pastel Pink' as Elphaba called it. "Ooh! I'll show you what shoes to wear, how to fix that hair!" Galinda undid Elphaba's braid, tugging at the black locks with her fingers in an attempt of brushing them.

"Everything that really counts to be popular!" She backed up again, seeing how Elphaba looked with her hair down and what styles would be best on her. "I'll help you be popular!" Galinda thought of all her popularity facets and how best to apply them to Elphaba. "You'll hang with the right cohorts, you'll be good at sports, know the slang you've _got_ to know!" The task was starting to seem daunting to Elphaba. You had to work impossibly hard to be popular like Galinda! She just smiled cheerily.

"So let's start! 'Cause you've got an awfully long way to go…" Elphaba looked sour at her roommate's and friend for the past five minutes' assumptions about her. Galinda hopped up onto her bed behind Elphaba.

"Don't be offended by my frank analysis," Galinda asked optimistically. _Clock-tick late for that…_Elphaba thought ruefully. "Think of it as personality dialysis!" She wrapped her arms around Elphaba's shoulders and rocked her back and forth in an overexcited hug. "Now that I've chosen to become a pal, a sister, and advisor, there's nobody wiser!" Galinda let Elphaba go, much to her relief, and hopped down off of the bed. "Not when it comes to: Popular!" She looked back at Elphaba with the look of a fashion sage.

"I _know_ about popular! And with an assist from me to be who you'll be: Instead of dreary who you were, well, are…" Elphaba started. _Uncalled for!_ Galinda saw her roommate's look and sighed internally. _Why were people always so resistant to rises in popularity?_ "There's nothing that can stop you from becoming populer!" Elphaba stared at her for a few seconds, until Galinda realized her mistake. "Lar!"

Galinda began flitting about her room, throwing together various items of makeup and accessories. "La, la, la-a-a la…." She sang to herself as she gathered the little bits and pieces and brought them to her bedside table. "We're gonna make you popular!" Galinda sorted them expertly, never looking down to check, into nail polishes, face makeup, jewelry, and accessories. Elphaba couldn't even name half of the makeup products Galinda expected her to wear. She took a short tube from her makeup pile and poked it out. A pale tan chisel-tip lipstick came up. _Oh, so the short tubes are lipstick and the long ones are…eyeliner? _Elphaba guessed as Galinda sorted through more lipsticks to find one that wouldn't clash with Elphaba's skin tone.

"When I see depressing creatures, with un-pre-possessing features," Galinda continued, finally finding a pale green lipstick. _I knew I still had that around from that "Scare 'Em" party…_Galinda thought as she twisted the oddly colored stick up. "I remind them, on their own behalf, to…think…of…" Galinda made that odd face she always did in applying lipstick for Elphaba to copy. She did, and squirmed uncomfortably under the pressure. _I can't imagine going through this every day,_ Elphaba pressed her lips together, not used to the pasty substance on them. Galinda continued fervently.

"…celebrated heads of state or 'specially great communicators. Did they have brains or knowledge?" Galinda smiled broadly at the joke. "Don't make me laugh! They were popular! Please, it's all about popular!" Galinda continued to sort through blushes from foundations, saddened that the green-tinge base from the same party had gone runny a few months ago. It would have been _perfect_.

"It's not about aptitude; it's the way you're viewed, so it's very shrewd to be very, very popular like me!" Galinda deemed that there was no point in trying for base or blush, but to focus on eyes and eye shadow.

"This is never going to work…" Elphaba smeared her hand across her mouth, still uncomfortable with the feeling of lipstick. Shimmering green streaks lined the back of her hand. Galinda bounced off, trying to find if she had any eye shadow that would stand out on her roommate, but not clash.

"Elphie, you mustn't say that anymore! You're whole life is about to change, and all because of me!" She rummaged through her large makeup bag expertly, but finding nothing, returned to her bed.

"Now. I'm going to teach you how to toss your hair." Galinda braced herself, then shook her head sharply, the blonde curls swishing gracefully. "Flip, flip." She said, then turned to Elphaba expectantly. Elphaba tried to flip her head like that, but really only managed half a flip. "No, no, no, it's a flip, then a flip." Galinda demonstrated again, and Elphaba was just as hopeless. Galinda shrugged good-naturedly.

"It's okay, just practice. Now," Galinda retrieved her training wand from the corner. Elphaba stood, fearing the worst from Galinda. "I will transform your simple frock into a beautiful ball gown." She swished her wand gracefully, then pointed at Elphaba. "Ball gown." She said commandingly. Elphaba looked down. Nothing. Galinda started again. Elphaba closed her eyes and imagined the ball gown. Full length train, still black, with lace and layered skirt and little ebony stones sewn in to each hem. "Ball gown!" Galinda said again. Elphaba started, expecting the weight of skirts decoration. She opened her eyes. Nothing again. Galinda tapped her wand experimentally.

"Is this thing on?" She looked at the base for a button or something that would suddenly make her spells work.

"Do you want me to try?" Elphaba held out her hand, but Galinda pulled her wand away.

"I got it! Just wear the frock, it's pretty!" Galinda declared, trying to hide the shame of unproductive spells. Elphaba sat back down, shaking her head.

"The finishing touch…" Galinda removed the pink hair flower form her locks and carefully pinned back Elphaba's long black hair. She gasped. "Pink goes good with green!" Elphaba looked up at Galinda cynically. It's not just like she was _wearing_ green.

"Why, Miss Elphaba," Galinda retrieved a hand mirror and presented it to her finished project. "Look at you. You're beautiful."

Elphaba took the mirror anxiously, not sure if Galinda was trying to make her feel better of if it was true. Almost accidentally, she saw her reflection. Gazing back at her, the girl in the mirror was beautiful. She smiled experimentally, seeing the effect. _Is that me? That's me! _The glory turned sour as Elphaba realized what had happened.

_That's not me. That's a dressed-up _dollElphaba passed the mirror back.

"I have to go," she said, and ran off into the bathroom. Galinda stood there, watching her roommate leave.

"You're welcome." Galinda sighed sadly. There was only one thing to cheer her up right now: herself. Galinda glanced down in the mirror, and was immediately perked up by the perfect face staring back at her. Quiet sobs were heard from the bathroom. _It's a drastic leap from where you were, but there's a reason to _cry _about it?! _Galinda thought.

"And though you protest, your disinterest I know clandestinly." Galinda sobered herself for a few seconds to sympathize with her roommate's sudden shock. "You're gonna grin and bear it, your newfound popularity!" She jumped back on her bed and began examining herself in the mirror again. "La, la, la-a-a, la, you'll be popular." Galinda turned to face the closed and supposedly locked bathroom door. "Just not quite as popular as me!"

All of Shiz was abuzz at the new news: Greenie and Blondie were hanging out together. The normal before-class chatter was silenced by the pair entering-_together_- and sitting- _next to each other_- on a bench, all the while-_civilly_- speaking to each other. The hush ended in a few seconds as people from the now allied groups apologized for mean rumors and insults. Peace reigned supreme for about all of two moments until pointless gossip began again.

Fiyero sat down next to Elphaba.

"Hey, Elphaba," he said, and smiled the trademark smile that he used on all of his posters, several of which Galinda owned. Instantly, new fears that had just last night been laid to rest flared up again. _What if he doesn't like me? What if Elphie _was_ planning on stealing him? What if he never looks at me again?_

"It's rude to not even acknowledge that your _girlfriend_ is in the room." Elphaba stood up, motioned for Galinda to take her seat, and sat down again. Galinda scooted up very close to Fiyero, trying to be as charming as possible. Lesser boys around her fluttered slightly at just the sight of so much general appeal. Fiyero looked past Galinda to Elphaba, confusion written all over his face. She stared back with a look of steel.

"Do I need to repeat myself?" She said with the air of someone lecturing a child who forgot to say 'please' once too many.

"Hey, Galinda," Fiyero said half-heartedly. Galinda linked her arm with his and leaned against his toned shoulder.

_Thank you, Elphie. _Galinda thought contentedly as she tried to snuggle with Fiyero, him completely unresponsive. _Thank you for at least this._

**NONE of that was Gelphie! I do not write Gelphie! There was no Gelphie in the musical! That has to go out of your head right now. Galinda's just excited. Get it? 'Got it' good. How'd you like the epilogue-ish ending? What happened immediately after 'Popular'? Actually really sorry I haven't posted, and this time there's nothing to blame but me. I don't actually like 'Popular' as a number that well either. At least it's extra long! Be happy. And review and complain if you thought it was too long of a wait. I won't care. **


	16. I'm Not That Girl

**Bombalurinasara…I have failed…**

Fiyero unrolled the little piece of paper and read the single line of handwritten text.

"Akrat tuv kara'te?" He read experimentally, then looked up at Deverig. "Did I say that right?"

"A_kret_ tuv kara'_ta_" Deverig corrected. "And then you say her name."

"And you're sure this is a real spell?" Fiyero looked closely at the letters as if they would suddenly form into something that made more sense.

"Absolutely. Everlasting love," Deverig assured the prince. "She'll be falling at your feet." Fiyero clapped Deverig on the back.

"You're a good man," he said, then rolled up the paper and left. Deverig couldn't help but smile at his little plan. That 'spell' was actually a Munchkin obscenity if said it just right.

* * *

"Toss, toss," Elphaba muttered as she tried again to flip her hair. Galinda was out at the annual Ozma Girl club gathering, leaving Elphaba alone to go through classes and get notes for her.

"And remember to find time to practice the hair toss!" Galinda had ordered as she ran out the door with easily two years archived copies of Ozma Girl magazine. Elphaba had promised, and was using the few minutes before class so she could tell Galinda she did indeed practice. It wasn't that hard, but Elphaba's hair didn't really flip, it sort of swished. Elphaba noticed Fiyero standing not too far away, watching her smugly.

"What? What are you looking at?" Elphaba stopped her hair flipping and challenged his gaze. Fiyero tactfully looked at his shoes, but still remained overconfident.

"Nothing," He looked up again. "I've been thinking about how you were...Galindafied."

"You think?" Elphaba said disbelievingly. Thinking guys were kind of cute…they had depth...

"When I have to," Fiyero tried out his trademark smile again. _So he doesn't think. _Elphaba pondered. _That's never good._ The beginnings of their conversation were interrupted by Dr. Dillamond. He looked flustered and anxious, wringing his hooves, which is very difficult for an Animal to do.

"Alright, take your seats, class! I have something to say, and very little time to say it." Dr. Dillamond paused, still not believing what he was about to have to say. "This is my last day here at Shiz. I am no longer permitted to teach." The Goat looked out sadly among the students as the reality of the situation sank in. "I want to thank you for sharing your enthusiasm, your essays, no matter how feebly structured, and even, on occasion, your lunch." He looked deliberately at Elphaba. Madame Morrible and two shrewdly menacing men entered the class.

"Doctor Dillamond, I am so dreadfully sorry," The headmistress said sympathetically.

"Madame, this isn't right." Elphaba stood up. Students stared at her for a few seconds, as the realization of what she was doing set in. Deverig and Fiyero tied for second to stand. Then a fourth student stood. And a fifth. The trickle became a flood as more and more students stood to protest the removal of Dr. Dillamond.

"I'm honored, class." Dr. Dillamond looked out at the small sea of familiar faces.

"Students, sit down!" Madame Morrible commanded. Not one person moved. "I may add that this is due to a Supreme Decree from his Ozness, The Wizard! Animals are no longer permitted to teach human students!" A few hesitant protesters sat down.

"Dr. Dillamond was sent a formal request to comply with the law, and as he refused to leave, action is being taken!" More joined their classmates on the bench.

"And although you may question the clearly undoubtable reason of our _beloved_ Wizard, whom has led us into prosperity for so long, know that he must sometimes make misconscrutible decisions perceived as unfairness!" Only Elphaba, Fiyero, and Deverig were left, the two boys daring each other to desert Elphaba first in comparison to the hard reason of Madame Morrible.

"I may be forced to suspend or even expel students who support this highly illegal resistance!" Deverig and Fiyero, pain playing across their faces at this ultimatum, joined the seated students in unison, trying to believe the other sat down first. "Miss Elphaba, I expected better from you." Madame Morrible looked sadly at her preferred sorcery student.

"Continue with class, but I won't sit." Elphaba said coldly, never moving to sit down. Madame Morrible glanced down, trying to signal Elphaba to sit. The jade girl's stance could have been made of stone.

"There will be consequences, Miss Elphaba, if you do not sit down." Madame Morrible said.

"Elphaba, please." Fiyero pleaded. Elphaba bent and sat down slowly, never taking her eyes off of her headmistress.

"Thank you," Madame Morrible nodded to the two men, who took Dr. Dillamond by either leg. (**Arm. Thing. You get it.**)

"Come on, goat," One man said, making it clear he was referring to a goat instead of a Goat. The doctor stiffened to being handled in such a way.

"They're not telling you the whole story! Remember that, students! Remember that!" The men dragged Dr. Dillamond out the door, not paying much attention to his protests.

"Dr. Dillamond!" Elphaba was on her feet again, forced to watch helplessly as Dr. Dillamond was taken away. "We could have changed this." She turned on her classmates. "And we chose to sit in silence!" Elphaba's honest accusation made the class shifted guiltily.

"Because there was nothing you could have done." Madame Morrible declared superiorly. She motioned for a third man to enter from the hallway. He pushed a very threatening-looking table on wheels, comprised entirely of metal.

"Good afternoon, students!" He said jovially, as if the previous teacher had not just been forcefully removed. A few half-hearted greetings mumbled response. "Every day, with every tick of the Time Dragon Clock, in every corner of our great Oz, one hears the silence of progress. For example: this is called a cage!" He pulled a black cover off of a metal mesh box, punishing wires criss-crossing each other to keep a small Lion cub from escaping. Elphaba could see the spark of intelligence in its eyes, but was chilled to see the spark flicker, leaving the eyes dumb for frightening moments, each darkness lasting longer and longer each time it happened. The man began poking at the cub with long metal objects, each more terrible than the last.

"Now, we will be seeing more and more of them in the near future. This _remarkable _innovation is actually for the Animal's own good..."

"If it's for its own good, why is it trembling?" Elphaba's voice quivered in disgust at the treatment of the Animal. The man stared apathetically at the cub for a few seconds, trying to come up with a plausible answer.

"He's just excited to be here, that's all." Came the curt reply, not really interested in what the question was. " Now, as I was saying, one of the benefits of caging a Lion cub this young is that he never, in fact, will learn how to speak." Whispering began as students contemplated what it would be like if Animal's didn't talk. Elphaba immediately remembered Dr. Dillamond.

"No..." She said to herself. Students began to investigate the strange contraption so acclaimed by the newcomer.

"That's right! Come closer!" He urged, snapping at the Lion cub again. Fiyero took one step toward the table, his brain trying to comprehend how something that scared that cub so much could be for his own good. Elphaba stopped him, practically pulling him away from the thing.

"Can you imagine a world where Animals are kept in..._cages_?" Her hands started shaking involuntarily. "And they never _speak_?!" The man was obscured by the students, completely blocking out view of the cub.

"Now, he may seem a bit agitated, but that's easily remedied..." Something clicked repeatedly, metal on metal.

"What can I do?" Elphaba tried to see the cub again without having to go near the cage.

"I don't know..." Fiyero was trying to think, but his head was starting to hurt.

"Well?! Someone has to...do something!" Electricity again, surging through her more powerfully than she had ever felt it before. The students and new teacher were thrown backwards from the cage, all moving painfully. An unheard rage spoke in Elphaba, fueling the escaped magic.

_How would you feel if someone kept you in a cage...? _It wondered cruelly, and students began jerking, as if someone was beating their stiff forms into new positions.

"What's happening?" Fiyero said, eyes wide at the force possessing the class. Except him.

"I don't know, I got mad, and then..." She gestured around her at the class, still being punished by Elphaba's spell.

"Okay, don't move..." Fiyero had to come up with a plan quickly, which would still be pretty slowly. "And don't get mad at me." Fiyero took the cage off of the table and headed for the door. Students began to scream softly in pain. Elphaba stared at the mess she had made. This was terrible, and the consequences much worse.

"Well, are you coming?!" Fiyero shouted over the growing din. Elphaba followed him, both sprinting through the halls before neighboring classrooms noticed them or the noise. The only thought was to run, to get far away from the classroom. Eventually, they found themselves near the lake and bridge. The urge to run lessened, and Elphaba found words.

"Careful! Don't shake him!" She said breathlessly, slowing down near the edge of the lake.

"I'm not!" Fiyero insisted, setting down the cage so he couldn't. Elphaba misinterpreted his precaution.

"We can't just let him loose anywhere, you know! We need to find someplace safe!"

"I realize that!" Fiyero looked down at the ground as Elphaba took the cage to check on the cub. "You must think I'm really stupid, don't you?" He said more quietly, the reason of her resistance to his attempts becoming clearer.

"No, not really stupid," She said absently, absorbed in the cub and not really registering the tone of his question.

"No?" He said disbelievingly. She probably could still like him..."Then what am I?" She looked up, giving him the strange scrutinizing look when she was trying to see past something.

"Well," She stood up, leaving the cub for a minute. "I'll tell you the one thing you don't know about yourself. You could have walked away back there. So no matter how shallow and self-absorbed you pretend to be-"

"There's no pretense here." Fiyero fell into automatic mode, denying any claims of his intelligence. "I happen to be genuinely self-absorbed and deeply shallow." Her expression remained unchanging as she saw past his facade.

"No, you're not." Fiyero's heart sped up nervously. "Or you wouldn't be so unhappy." Was he? Did he want to be this way?

"W-we came here to rescue the cub, not pick each other apart," Fiyero reached for the cage.

"No, wait-" She reached for the cage herself, their hands landing together on top of the handle. Instantly, both blushed. Elphaba pulled her hand away. They stood there nervously for a few seconds. _No, stop it, Elphaba! You promised Galinda! _She bent down by the cub to hide her face.

"Its heart is racing..." _So is mine. _Both thought without realizing it. "I didn't mean to...to..."

"What did you mean to do?" Fiyero crouched down next to her. "And why was I the only one you didn't do it to?" _Why _was_ Fiyero the only one your spell didn't affect?_

_Because you love him. _Elphaba looked up at him. _No! _

"Oh...look! You're bleeding," She had to stop thinking like that, get those thoughts out of her head! "It must have scratched you."

"Yeah...or maybe it scratched me or something..." Fiyero said stupidly, lost while looking into Elphaba's eyes. She brought her hand to his cheek to wipe the blood away. She felt her fingers heat up as they touched him, a very pleasant sensation. She had never felt this before with a boy. Fiyero put his hand on hers, moving his fingers across hers gently. Elphaba pulled away quickly, realizing what was happening. _You are being the worst friend in the world! _She stood up.

"The cub!" She said, not looking at Fiyero. "We need to get the cub to safety..." Fiyero stared up at her, hurt playing all over his face, unmoving. "Well, are you going to leave it sitting there?!" Finally, he got the message. He picked up the cub's cage.

"Goodbye, Elphaba." Fiyero said stiffly, then left as quickly as he could without bouncing the cage.

"Goodbye, Fiyero," she said softly, beating herself up for ever even thinking about Fiyero like that.

_What is so wrong about this? You deserve each other. You felt it._

_Just because your fingers warm up doesn't mean he's the one! And there's Galinda to consider!_

_If you just explained to her-_

_No! She'll think I betrayed her! Which I am doing, even thinking about him that way!_

_But you love him._

_He and GALINDA deserve each other! End of story! There's nothing else!_

She slumped down in the coarse grass, battling herself for what she wanted and what she knew was right.

_There was a time you could have had him. _The voice in her head said. Elphaba remembered the OzDust, and everything that had happened. Fiyero danced with her. Waited on her. Wanted to be with her. _And you gave it away to be Galinda's friend._

_I…I didn't love him then. And a friendship with Galinda is worth it. No more fighting, no more pain…for either of us. And she's nicer now._

Voices on the bridge interrupted Elphaba's thoughts. She hid herself under the bridge, looking up at the pairs of feet. Fashionable stilettos next to a man's flat shoes. Galinda's laugh. When had she gotten back? The feet faced each other, the lack of voices making what they were doing clear. Elphaba tried to keep herself from imagining her up on the bridge with Fiyero. Droplets began to fall, making small wet circles on the ground. The heels moved on, but the other shoes stayed in spite of rain, looking out off of the bridge for a few seconds, searching, before finally following the heels. _They're happy._ Elphaba came out from her hiding place. _Would you destroy such happiness for your own gain?_ _You can't._

"Miss Elphaba, there you are!" Madame Morrible's voice caused Elphaba to turn around. Bustling toward her, the headmistress held out an umbrella to keep the two of them dry. "Oh, Miss Elphaba, I finally heard back from the Wizard!"

"The Wizard?" Elphaba tried desperately to keep her voice from going high from excitement. All her dreams could come true, helping Oz and being celebrated!

"Yes, and he wishes to meet you!"

"He _asked_ for me!?" This whole conversation kept getting better and better. First the Wizard responded, and now he wants to _see _her!

Yes! I know how devastated you are for our poor Doctor Dillamond, but I can assure you my dear, as one door closes…" She reached into her jacket and pulled out a shimmering green envelope "…another one opens." Elphaba took the envelope reverently, noticing slightly how her fingers blended into the paper, but not caring. _This was from the Wizard!_

"Madame, I don't know what to say! How can I ever thank you?" In her blind joy, she hugged her headmistress tightly, not caring that she didn't even know the older woman that well.

"Ah, careful, dear, or you'll get wet. Oh, I know…" Madame Morrible readjusted the umbrella, but then handed it to Elphaba and stepped out into the rain. She waved her hands majestically, and instantly the clouds parted and the sun shone brightly, adding to the wonderful feeling that nothing could possibly be wrong in all Oz. Elphaba looked on in amazement at her headmistress's talent.

"Didn't I tell you? Weather is my specialty." Madame Morrible took her umbrella and folded it up, placing one hand on Elphaba's shoulder. "OzSpeed, my dear! Make me proud!"

"I will!" Fingers trembling, she opened the envelope, removing a small slip of paper with deep green calligraphy.

'You are hereby summoned to the Emerald City by His Ozness, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, to meet him in person at the soonest possible date.' A green ribbon was sealed to the paper with wax and an official-looking stamp. Elphaba tried her hardest to not drop the letter for fear the mud would nullify it.

She'll finally be grand vizier to the Wizard…

**Gushy gushy romanc-y chapter, but that's what I'm Not That Girl is all about. I don't think there's much to say, if you have any questions please say so in a review, which I know I'm going to get loads of. RIGHT:) Thank you all for sticking with me so long, and I am sorry I wasn't able to update before your boat trip, Bombalurinasara. Keep reading and writing! -LostOzian**


	17. One Short Day

Elphaba checked the station clock again, the bustle of commuters swirling around her like the tides, shouts for leaving trains and arriving trains filling the station. She was given a rather wide berth as she scanned the train departure times, with the exception of Galinda, who kept giving last minute advice about image and self-confidence.

"Remember, eye contact." Galinda counted Elphaba's bags, hoping there were still three. "And don't forget to tell him how wonderful he is, Wizards love that!" Elphaba couldn't help wondering how Galinda knew what a Wizard liked and didn't like. Galinda dusted nonexistent dust off of Elphaba's borrowed blouse parentally.

"And be yourself... well... within reason." She said finally, staring up at Elphaba with a satisfaction at her project. Probably a little time to reinforce the lessons would have been nice, but one doesn't get called to meet the Wizard every day. Boq wheeled Nessa over to the two friends, Nessa beaming for her sister's good fortune. Boq was trying to catch Galinda's eye, maybe get a little recognition for how long he had taken care of Nessa, but she was too preoccupied with Elphaba's image.

"Elphaba, I'm so proud of you, and I know father's proud, too." She looked from Galinda to Boq hopefully. "We're all proud, aren't we?"

"You'll be okay without me, Nessa?" Elphaba knew that she was basically Nessa's little piece of home.

"She'll be fine!" Galinda said perkily, Nessa just as much her friend after she became friends with Elphaba. "Bick will take care of her, right?" She flashed her winning smile approvingly. To Boq, it seemed as if the whole world had turned a few shades darker. He wasn't Galinda's hero. Fiyero was. Boq had tried more than once to take an honest, unbiased look at him, and still couldn't figure out what was so special.

"…It's Boq…" He said softly, looking down at the blue-and-white tiled floor. Nessa twisted in her chair to catch his eye, but he tried to ignore her. "I…I can't do this anymore." The notion of looking back never crossed his mind as he left the three girls standing there: his (hopefully) ex-girlfriend, her sister, and the love of his life.

"Boq…" Nessa turned her chair around, hoping he would stop and say something more, something to explain his sudden change of heart. He pushed through the crowd, never slowing down. Tears welled up in Nessa's rich brown eyes. She knew what this was all about.

"Nessa…maybe he's not the right one…for you." Galinda tried to console the girl, knowing what people usually wanted to hear when having a one-sided breakup.

"No," Nessa was outright crying now, her voice staying steady and resolved. "It's me that's not right." _I was never 'right'. Elphaba is cool, confident, and talented, and what does that make me? The family _reject Delusions raged in her head, portraying herself as ugly, useless Nessa in a world of purposefully beautiful people.

Elphaba tried to talk to Nessa, tell her everything is all right, everything will be all right, but Nessa took her wheels and moved away from her. "Just go and be happy, Elphaba, I'll be…fine." Nessa wheeled away, her arms beginning to shake as her composure broke.

"Nessie, wait!" Elphaba wanted to have her sister stay, duty to family before personal gain and glory.

"Let her go." Galinda held Elphaba's arm back. She'd had a bad breakup in the Gillikin when she was fifteen, and she remembered that all she had wanted to do was run forever until the pain went away. "She'll have to manage without you. We all will." Galinda looked her friend over again, an old fear returning that Elphaba was pretty enough for Fiyero. _No, _Galinda turned the anxiety away. _She gave me Fiyero, so I repay her by letting her have any other boy she wanted._ Elphaba rolled her eyes

"Please, it's not like your world's going to end because I'm gone. Besides, you have Fiyero to comfort you." Elphaba pushed Galinda's arm teasingly, the pair laughing together, trying to drown out their thoughts. "Where is he, anyway?" The words were out before Elphaba could have stopped them. Galinda's laugh ended suddenly, panic rising again. Was Elphaba actually interested in Fiyero now? Had Galinda created someone so powerful that she couldn't stop her friend? "Not that I expected him to say goodbye to me. We _barely _know each other." Elphaba added hastily, almost reading Galinda's dreading thoughts.

"I don't know him either," _Really, Galinda! You're in pubic! They don't need to hear your worries! _"He's distant, and moodified, and he's been thinking, which really worries me." Galinda said quickly, hoping she'll stop once she got a load off of her chest. Elphaba's eyebrows rose, as if she couldn't believe the news. "I never knew how much he card about that old goat!" Galinda continued in spite of herself, trying not to burst into tears and confess that she still held a slight jealousy of Elphaba. Suddenly, something behind Elphaba caught her eye.

"Oh, there he is! Fiyero! Over here, dearest!" The prince found Galinda and Elphaba easily in the crowd and made his way through the flow of people to meet them. Galinda preened her hair quickly, but he didn't pay attention to her and proceeded straight to Elphaba.

"Elphaba, I'm happy for you." He said simply, putting on an expression he practiced for over an hour in the mirror. Hopeful, yet a hint of sadness and longing. He hoped it made the right impression. Elphaba took the flowers, their hands brushing for an instant. Elphaba felt the warmth on her fingers, but it was gone when she took the flowers. _Poppies,_ she noticed, examining the large red blooms. _How did he know I liked poppies best?_

"Yes, we are both so happy." Galinda tried to stand between her best friend and her boyfriend, but the pair was tall enough to see over her head and not notice her.

"Uh, listen," Fiyero was almost ashamed to admit his change in lifestyle. "I've been thinking-"

"Yes, I've heard," Elphaba couldn't help noticing the differences in Fiyero's manner. Attentive attitude, jaw not slack, but not clenched. Without realizing it, she began listing the things she loved about him in her head. His eyes, his nose, his cheeks, the smooth skin…

"Me too! Poor Doctor Dillamond. It makes one want to... uh... take a stand." Galinda felt awkward as the two stared at her, and unbidden silence stifling conversation. Improvising, Galinda tried to come up with something impressive. "So I've been thinking of... uh... changing my name!" Galinda declared.

"Your name?" Fiyero said disbelievingly. What would make Galinda do something like this, so drastically sudden?

_You,_ His brain supplied, working its way back to full functioning after such a long period of neglect.

"Well, yes!" Galinda rolled her eyes slightly, trying to ignore the slight distaste Fiyero's comment seemed to carry. "Since Doctor Dillamond had his own way of pronouncing my name, in solidarity and to express my…" She struggled to find properly important-sounding words. "…outrage, I will henceforward be known no longer as Ga-linda, but as simply: Glinda." She finished with a flourish.

One second passed. Two. Three. Fiyero cleared his throat.

"Oh, well, that's very admirable of you... Glinda." He stumbled on the new name, not used to the way it sounded. "Elphaba, good luck." He left, desperately praying that he had done everything right and she had gotten his hopefully subtle hints: _I love you. Let me break up with Galin…Glinda. Let us be together._ Galinda started to sob theatrically.

"There, see?" She pointed to the retreating prince's back.

"Galinda-" Elphaba began, ready to give breakup advice to the girl who tried to console her sister on a similar occasion barely moments ago.

"It's Glinda now!" Glinda said, overdoing her attempt at carelessness. Rubbing her temples gingerly, she continued muttering, "Stupid idea, I don't even know what made me say it."

"It doesn't matter what your name is, everyone's in love with you at first sight!" Elphaba gestured to the masses still swirling around them, unaware of the dramas taking place in the very station.

"I don't want them to love me, I want him!" Real tears began to fall as Glinda calmed, real sorrow sweeping over her in waves. "I don't even think he's perfect anymore and I still want him." Galinda's expression changed suddenly as a new thought came to her. "This must be what _other _people feel like!" She started wailing again, passers by stopping to stare for a moment before moving on. "How do they bear it?!" Elphaba drew her friend close to her, hoping to console her and mute the mournful cries.

_I'm sorry, Glinda. _Elphaba held her friend tightly in her moment of insecurity. _It's my fault._

"Come with me," In a sudden turn of inspiration, she knew just what would make the whole situation better.

"Where?" Glinda raised her head, wondering what Elphaba was talking about, with the

"To the Emerald City." A feeling like anything was possible grew between the pair. To go to the city, fabled to be made of gleaming emerald? Dreams became more real than reality.

"I've always wanted to see the Emerald City," Glinda said excitedly.

"Last train to the Emerald City!" A conductor called out over the crowds. The pair hustled out onto the platform and aboard the train, not worrying about anything as they ran over everything that was taken care of. The Wizard's invitation counted as a free passage, most of the clothing in Elphaba's suitcase was borrowed from Galinda's closet, and they were sure any hotel would be able to accommodate two instead of one easily. They both carried money with them already. Everything was perfect.

* * *

Deverig looked on, feeling his blood begin to boil. Storming, he almost ran out of the station, ripping petals off his bouquet of daisies angrily. Despite all of his efforts, the prince got there first, and apparently hadn't used his 'spell' yet as he was still in her good favor. And _poppies_! He had hit her favorite flower right on the button! Now, Elphaba was leaving for the Emerald City with a memory of Fiyero's kindness on her mind that he couldn't possibly beat. Sitting down angrily on a bench, Deverig turned to the bench's other occupant. He was a man, easily fifty, reading a newspaper.

"Don't you just hate unattainable women?" He asked aggressively. The man jumped up and scuttled off for another place to sit. Deverig barely noticed, absorbing his thoughts into shredding the daisy stems into sweet-smelling bits of green confetti.

* * *

Elphaba and Glinda sat outside on a green wrought iron bench outside an ice cream parlor, 'The Food of Wizards', watching shoppers pass by with green bags, clothing, and accessories. They ate green mint ice cream, careful to not let the cold treat drip onto their clothing. A machine that made ice cream was one of many wonders brought and named by the Wizard, along with a 'camera' and 'radio', which there was only one working in existence in the Wizard's palace. Glinda checked on the photograph they had taken in a tourist shop.

"It's a pity that cameras don't take pictures in color," Glinda said, studying her pale gray curls and the dark grey splotches on her face where she had applied makeup.

"Why, so all the City could know that it has a green-skinned tourist?" Elphaba caught a trail of melted ice cream on her tongue.

"No," Glinda said sadly. "This is probably going to be what I'll look like when I'm old!" She pointed to her grey hair and sharply contrasting face tones. Elphaba leaned over to see, but noticed first the mass of black standing next to the grayed out Glinda. Everything about her was black, with the exception of gray hands and face, the darkened remnants of green.

"Don't worry about it, Glinda," Elphaba was still getting used to calling her friend Glinda, with a silent Ga. She sighed, looking out at the perfect people on the perfect streets of Oz's most perfect city. "We should live here someday," She said, looking to Glinda beside her, comparing her face in the photograph to her compact. Glinda shut the little mirror and joined Elphaba in planning their future in this town of green.

"We'll live in the most fancified apartment in the North Side," Galinda imagined the green apartment towers, dying to have the key to one of the rooms there.

"Near the Wizard's palace, so we can look out into the gardens every morning,"

"And you won't have too far to go to work,"

"That's if I'm good enough,"

"Elphie, Madame Morrible hasn't seen so much power in a student until you came along," Glinda took a few more licks of her ice cream. "And if the Wizard already had a powerful magic student, he wouldn't have asked for you."

"But still," Elphaba took Glinda's reassurances to heart, but moved on in planning their future in the City. "You'd be about two clock-ticks away from every shopping plaza in Oz,"

"And you'd have all the knowledge of Oz right at your fingertips," Each anticipating the wishes of the other.

"No book will be safe from my grimy green clutches!" Elphaba held her free hand high over Glinda menacingly, scaring her friend good-naturedly. They laughed, and caught up with their melting ice cream.

"Though Glinda," Elphaba said pensively. "Whenever I go somewhere new, people point and stare and laugh. But here, nobody notices. I think we belong here." Glinda looked over at her friend and smiled, the energy of a busy city fueling their fantasies.

"You look positively _emerald_, Elphie." Elphaba couldn't help but smile in return.

**I stop here because next is 'Sentimental Man'. It's harder to branch off from 'the Wizard will see you now', and you all know what they show you in 'One Short Day'. Or at least understand it. If you don't, google video 'One Short Day' and you'll see. Still, tell me if you think I completely botched the whole thing. -Laughs-. Read and Review, I still love you all! -LostOzian**


	18. A Sentimental Man

"It's almost time, Glinda! Come on!" Elphaba dragged her friend behind her as they approached the palace, clutching her invitation tightly. Glinda allowed herself to be pulled along, sharing Elphaba's excitement in going to meet the supreme ruler of all Oz.

"We're here to see the Wizard!" Elphaba presented her invitation to the guard at the front entrance.

"One moment, please." The guard passed through the grand doors, leaving the two outside to let their imaginations get away with them.

"What do you think he's going to be like?" whispered Glinda, anticipation making it hard to stand still. She bounced from one heel to the other.

"I don't know," Elphaba looked up at the amazing palace where the Wizard lived. "But he's going to be wonderful," The guard returned, and announced proudly:

"The Wizard will see you now!" Elphaba and Glinda chocked back a very fan girl scream and finally entered the majestic palace they had seen towering up over the city all day. There was a short walk down a green hallway, then another pair of double doors into the Wizard's throne room.

Darkness flooded in the room, lit by wavering torches spaced a tad too generously, leaving patches of frightening shadow. The walls were more of a muddy olive than a bright emerald, leaving a sharp contrast from the hallway. At the end of the throne room, the two could barely make out a dark shape floating above a chair. Suddenly, the shape came to life, and they realized it was a giant head.

"I AM OZ!" It bellowed, eyes flashing menacingly, turning and twisting as it spoke. "I AM OZ, THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE! WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY DO YOU SEEK ME?" Sound reverberated off of the walls, drowning rational thought in fear.

"Say something!" Glinda hissed, hoping her friend had some witty remark, as she always did. The green face seemed pale in the low light, and Glinda couldn't tell if Elphaba truly was scared as she was.

"I…I am Elphaba Thropp, your terribleness!" Elphaba called out toward the head, desperately hoping the Wizard wouldn't think less of her if she was afraid.

"Oh! Is that you, Elphaba? I didn't realize…" A much more normal voice shouted from the throne room. The head fell back onto the chair, lifeless, and a man climbed out from behind the great head. He seemed in his late fifties, but still had a wild spark in his eyes. His coat was gray, with a gray and black suit under the long jacket. He pulled off some dirty goggles and gloves. "I hope I didn't startle you, it's so hard to make out peoples' faces all the way back there." He said apologetically, controlling the urge to start from Elphaba's skin. For the past week, ever since Morrible wrote to him, she sent a few relatively accurate sketches of the sorcery student so he could get used to her unique tone. "So, let's see... which is which? Elphaba!" The man approached the pair, a spring in his step, offering his hand to Elphaba. She couldn't help but like his manner, the way he seemed to view everything so enthusiastically. "And you must be…" He looked at Glinda, who curtsied regally, offering her hand.

"Glinda. The 'Ga' is silent." Glinda said in her light and delicate voice as the Wizard shook her hand, despite the curtsy's convenient position to have him kiss it. Elphaba stepped a bit closer to the large head. Most of the components she could tell were metal now, colored lights for pupils in the shining eyes, gears visible in the eyebrows with close examination.

"I know. It isn't much, is it?" The Wizard joined Elphaba in studying the Oz head. "But, people expect this sort of thing. You have to give people what they want. The thing is, I hardly ever let people meet the real me, but this being special occasion…" The Wizard considered Elphaba, not exactly surprised she held so much power. Magic seemed to be a part of her appearance; the sharp contrast of green and black, the confident stance, the hat… More surprised from her looks was the fact she reminded him of someone he knew a long time ago, very intimately yet without really knowing who she was at all.

"I'm so happy to meet you," Elphaba looked from the Oz head to the Wizard, more relieved he was like a normal person, excluding his intense wisdom and power, of course. The Wizard smiled a kind of 'I knew it all along' smile.

"Well, that's good.'Cause that's what I love best: making people happy!" The Wizard bowed his head slightly. "I am a sentimental man, who always longed to be a father." The looked up again at the two girls, complete polar opposites. He liked the one called Glinda very much, but there was something about Elphaba he couldn't place.

"That's why I do the best I can to treat each citizen of Oz a son…" Noticing he was in the presence of two girls, he added on: "or daughter. So, Elphaba, I'd like to raise you high…" He took one green hand and lifted it; she didn't resist. "'Cause I think everyone deserves the chance to fly!" Elphaba giggled a little bit, remembering when she was very little Father would occasionally fly her around the house. She grew out of it quickly, but Nessa didn't, mostly because she was never higher off the ground than he chair was.

"And helping you with your ascent'll allow me to feel so…" He stared into the green one's eyes, trying to remember where he had seen them before…or had he? "Parental. For I am a sentimental man…"

"Thank you very much, Your Ozness, but I'm here…" Elphaba dropped the Wizard's hand and stood beside her friend. "We're…here to alert you that something bad is happening…" The Wizard waved his hand dismissively.

"Please, I'm the Wizard of Oz. I already know why you've come." _Oh, please don't test me…don't test me…_ Glinda and Elphaba shared a brief moment of wonder, no question running through their minds that it was true; of course the Wizard would know of Animals forgetting to speak! It was stupid that they had ever thought otherwise.

"Of course, you must prove yourself…" The Wizard said slowly, hoping that if this girl was anything like Morrible had described, she would jump right up. Unfortunately, he was a tad disappointed at first. Glinda seemed more eager than Elphaba was.

"Prove yourself! Prove yourself!" She tugged on the long black sleeve and bounced up and down.

"But how?" Elphaba asked of her friend, hoping that she would settle down. Most of the spells Elphaba had cast were with a wand, which she didn't have. She needed her notes for big spells, and if she tried to cast an accidental spell, something might happen that would ruin any chance she had with helping the Wizard. Glinda stopped tugging and fell silent.

"Oh, I don't know..." the Wizard pretended to think, knowing full well what he wanted her to do. "Some sort of gesture, mostly for show…" He noticed Chistery move high in the ceiling beams behind the two enraptured girls. _Stay out of sight, you stupid monkey…_ He willed it, not actually able to get it to do anything besides 'come' and 'stay'. Madame said that Elphaba liked Animals, so dress up one of his caged Monkeys, make sure she doesn't ask it to speak, and she'll be happy. "Something to test your adeptness… I know!" He declared, scaring Chistery back into the rafters with his sudden outburst. _Good monkey,_ he thought. "Madame, the book!" Madame Morrible entered through a door in the side, emerald-clad and holding a book that seemed like it had been around for as long as time itself had.

"Madame Morrible!" Glinda gasped, barely believing her headmistress was in the Emerald City.

"I believe you're well acquainted with my new Press Secretary," The Wizard said, nodding to Madame Morrible approvingly.

"Press Secretary?" Elphaba said questioningly, doubts beginning to rise. Headmistress to Press Secretary was a rather large leap in social status.

"Oh, yes dearies, I've risen up in the world." Madame Morrible ruffled her collar a bit, green…feathers…shaking with the small shudder. _Of course it would be bird, not Bird, feathers. The Wizard wouldn't allow it._ Elphaba trained her eyes away from the swishing green tendrils. "You'll find that the Wizard is a very generous man. If you do something for him, he'll do much for you." Madame Morrible bowed to the Wizard, making sure to keep the book level.

"What do you want me to do?" Elphaba eyed the old book warily. It carried a sense of power and respect with it.

"Well, this is my monkey servant, Chistery. Chistery!" The monkey leaped down from the support beams in the ceiling, a red coat flying around him in his fall. "He looks so longingly at the birds every morning..." He took the monkey's paw like hand tenderly, trying to keep him from looking at the girls. There was something in the mute Monkey's manner that Elphaba might suspect, a kind of dumb expression.

"So the Wizard was thinking, perhaps, a levitation spell..." Madame Morrible put in, holding the book higher.

"Is that the Grimmerie?" Glinda asked, awe-struck at the book just below her eye level. She could see the cracks in the ancient binding, strange designs and chains of symbols embossed on the cover.

"Yes, the ancient book of spells and enchantments." She held out the book to Elphaba. She took it, and opened the heavy covers. Line after line of swirling letters filled the pages, occasionally with small diagrams or illustrations. A leg, a stack of gold coins, a tree, a small pair of bat wings…

"Can I touch it?" Glinda hissed, staring at the book with awe, wishing it was her holding the arcane book.

"No!" Madame Morrible hissed back, eyes cold with distaste at her less favored student.

"What funny writing…" Elphaba had stopped on the page with the wings, scanning the lines of ink on parchment.

"Well it's a lost language. The lost language of spells!" Madame Morrible said majestically, her voice echoing slightly off the walls.

"A kind of recipe book for change," The Wizard added more humbly. Elphaba stared closer at the book, déjà vu stealing over her. She sank to the floor, trying to make sense of this strange new understanding. These were familiar… they meant things… she knew what, but not how to say it, there weren't words in English.

"Don't be discouraged if you can't decipherate it, dearie. I, myself, can only read a spell or two, and that took years and years-" Madame Morrible saw Elphaba on the floor, poring over the book with a tense expression.

"Ahven… tatey… aven, tatey aven..." Elphaba began, the words feeling right as they left her mouth, manifesting themselves as sound in the air. She began slowly, picking up speed as the spell voiced itself through her.

"Oh, Chistery, what an experience you're going to have!" He took the monkey by both hands, jumping slightly to make the Monkey seem more excited. He screeched and smiled, pain beginning to flicker in his eyes. The Wizard continued, oblivious to the pain of his 'precious' Monkey. "Since once I had my own day in the sky,"

Elphaba continued, oblivious to the Wizard and Chistery. "Ah may ah tay atum…" The spell dampened the air, like a humid day's oppressive atmosphere.

"I know everyone deserves the change to fly!" Chistery screamed in obvious pain, twitching away from the Wizard and convulsing on the throne room floor. Elphaba snapped out of the spell's trance and saw what she was doing.

"What happened? What's wrong?!" Elphaba looked on helplessly, the excitement of the spell dissolving into terror.

"Nothing's wrong, it's just the transition, dearie." Madame Morrible said calmly, watching the Monkey indifferently.

"No, it's hurting him! Why won't he say something?!" Elphaba flipped pages quickly, not caring about the age of the sheets.

"She's actually done it!" The Wizard looked from Elphaba to Chistery, equally nonplussed as Morrible was. Chistery finally stood up, two leathery wings sprouted through the butler's coat. The Monkey shifted his shoulders, then climbed on top of the Oz head as if nothing had happened.

"No! Quick, how do I reverse it?" Elphaba looked up at the monkey, his pain dissolved but sorrowfully grotesque in appearance. She had come here to help Animals, not cause them to mutate!

"You can't!" Madame Morrible shrugged, examining the Monkey's new wings with admiration.

"W-What?!" Elphaba stopped her frenzied searching and stared at Madame Morrible with her calm attitude.

"You can't! Spells are irreversible!" Madame Morrible chastised, as if this was the most basic lesson of all. "I knew she had the power, I told you!" She shook her finger at the Wizard, who took it in stride.

"You planned all this?" Elphaba cowered back, distrust shattering her long-held faith in the Wizard's power like a mallet to glass.

"Well, you benefit too, dearie," Madame Morrible waved a hand at the student, her purpose fulfilled for now. "You benefit too."

"And this is only the beginning!" The Wizard jumped in, noticing the value of Elphaba's trust better than Madame Morrible did. "Look!" He pulled a lever in the wall, and the large tapestry lifted behind the Oz head.

A cage, easily fifteen feet tall, filled the back wall of the room. Inside were easily fifty caged Monkeys, obviously crowded, even more so by obviously new wings. They flitted around, grasping at the bars, finding out best how to fly. Elphaba felt her very core shaken by the cruel conditions these Monkeys were in. They were screeching and shouting incoherently, not a single intelligible word leaving their lips. Madame Morrible clapped her hands together excitedly.

"Marvelous! Won't they make perfect spies?" She said, turning to the Wizard for support in her idea. He nodded slightly, examining the Monkeys, impressed by Elphaba's spell work.

"Spies?!" Elphaba spat, her voice cracking slightly from the overload of emotion. Fear. Betrayal. Pity. Hatred…

The Wizard sensed his foothold loosening. _She needs to be calmed down…otherwise we'll lose her._

"You're right, that's a harsh word... how about…scouts?" The Wizard squatted down next to Elphaba, placing one arm on her shoulder comfortingly. "That's what they'll be really. They'll fly around Oz! Report any subversive Animal activity."

Elphaba shrugged the arm off and scooted away, moving the Grimmerie with her. The simple book, when mishandled, that had causes so much pain.

"You can't read this book at all! Can you?" Elphaba's voice building from soft disbelief into an angry rage. "That's why you need enemies, and cages, and spies! You have no real power!"

"Exactly... that's why I _need_ you." The Wizard stood again, opening his arms to Elphaba. "Don't you see? The world is your oyster, now! You have so many...opportunities." He looked to Glinda, forgotten in the corner in the excitement. (**Sorry, Glin…**) "You both do."

"Thank you, your Ozness." Glinda gushed, maintaining eye contact and hoping it was like telling him how wonderful he is. Wizards love that, after all.

"Since once I had my own day in the sky, I know everyone deserves the chance to-"

"NO!" Elphaba forced strength into her legs and ran, clutching the Grimmerie close.

"Elphaba!" Madame Morrible called after her student, worried that The Wizard would blame her for teaching her to think independently.  
"Elphie!" Glinda cried, shocked that her friend would reject such a generous offer over Monkeys that probably were only monkeys to begin with. She turned to the Wizard apologetically. "I am so sorry, your Wizardship. I'll fetch her back!" She ran after her friend, heels clicking in the great hall. "Elphie, wait!"  
"We must get her back. She knows too much!" The Wizard said to Madame Morrible commandingly. SHE was the one who had Elphaba under her care the past month or so, SHE knew her best.  
"Don't worry! I will handle it," Madame Morrible left through another door to help fix the situation. The Wizard climbed back into the Oz head, and again the powerful voice rang throughout the hall.  
"Guards, guards!" A squad of five of his elite Gale Force entered and stood to attention, saluting their spears to His Ozness. "There is a fugitive loose in the palace! Find her, capture her, and bring her to me!"  
The guards saluted again. "Yes your Ozness!" and ran off to fulfill their leader's wish.

**Gotta love scene splits...now you all are going to be driven crazy by the need for Defying Gravity! It's awesome. The scene and what I'm going to do with it. has a great libretto, how can I support it? Review, I love you all if you do. Keep reading and writing! -LostOzian**


	19. Defying Gravity

Elphaba raced up the stairs, feelings pounding in her head like storm surge from a terrible hurricane. Monkeys screaming, the great clanking of the Oz head, the Wizard's voice echoing: 'That's why I _need_ you' over and over. Another flight. Higher. Higher! She barely noticed another pair of footsteps below her, clicking with each step. Not guards, then. At least, not yet.

A solitary door, beaten with age, stood at the top of the stairs. Elphaba rushed the last few steps, skipping a few, and burst through the door into another room. It was filled with dusty boxes and old blankets, as if nothing had been there for years. Darkness pooled in the old room, disturbed by the last rays of sunlight from the rapidly setting sun.

"Elphie, wait! Where are you going?" Glinda whined from the stairwell, following her friend into the old room.

"Oh no…" Elphaba searched around her, her instinct to go higher, high above the guards and winged Monkeys and the Wizard. How could he deceive her like that?! "There are no more stairs! This must be an attic…" As the realization set in that she had nowhere to go, she knew she needed to buy herself some time.

"Elphaba, listen to me..." Glinda began as her best friend began searching the room. Elphaba had screwed everything up by running off like that! She probably won't get the job, they'll both be locked up in some prison…

"Barricade the door!" Elphaba responded wildly, producing an old sweeping broom from behind a large trunk. _This'll do it!_

"Elphaba, why couldn't you have stayed calm for once instead of flying off the handle?" Glinda stamped her foot angrily, ashamed at her friend's behavior. "I hope you're happy!" She spat sarcastically. "I hope you're happy now! I hope you're happy how you hurt your cause forever!" Elphaba finally looked up, the broom wedged under the door handle. "I hope you think you're clever!" Elphaba stood to her full height, towering over Glinda.

"I hope you're happy!" she said with equal venom. "I hope you're happy too! I hope you're proud how you would grovel in submission to feed your own ambition!" Glinda fumed. It's not like she wanted to be with the Wizard the way Elphaba did; she just knew that running off like she this wasn't the right thing to do.

"So though I can't imagine how, I hope you're happy right now!" The two turned their backs on each other, Elphaba facing the lone window.

"Citizens of Oz!" An amplified voice called out from somewhere below them. Elphaba looked down to a balcony occupied by Madame Morrible. She was addressing a growing crowd, passers-by stopping to wonder what all the commotion was about.

"There is an enemy that must be found and captured! Believe nothing she says. She's evil. Responsible for the mutilation of these poor, innocent monkeys!" Madame Morrible played to the reaction of the crowd. Horror, disgust, and shock mixing into the air. Elphaba's breath caught. It was her. They were turning Oz against her! She barely noticed Glinda join her at the window, looking down on Madame Morrible and the Ozians.

"Her green skin is but an outward manifestation of her twisted nature! This distortion... this repulsion... this... Wicked Witch!" Shouts from the crowd almost drowned out Madame Morrible's horrific last words, innocent shoppers they may have seen earlier that day turned into people in a mob, stirred against Elphaba with only the word of their leader telling them this is the right thing. The best thing. The only thing.

Something rational took over Elphaba, a kind of reason in the face of panic. She could set this right. The mute Monkeys, the Ox and Owl Dr. Dillamond told her about, they needed someone to oppose the Wizard and end this once and for all. She was the only one who could do this. Glancing in the corner, she noticed the Grimmerie, lying discarded in her earlier panic to barricade the door. She had the power to help them, but the first thing she needed was escape. Could she jump out the window, make a kind of glider with the fabric up here? No, she couldn't drop. She needed to fly…

"Don't be afraid," Glinda said, holding on to her friend's arm, her voice shaking from her own fear.

"I'm not," Elphaba said simply, her own voice level and steady as she accepted what she knew she had to do. "It's the Wizard who should be afraid…Of me." Glinda's fingers tightened around Elphaba's arm as Glinda started to understand Elphaba's decision.

"Elphie! Listen to me! Just…say you're sorry. Before it's too late." Glinda tried to make Elphaba look at her, but the green girl remained steady, staring at the mob beginning to disperse into search parties to find her. "You can still be with the Wizard, what you've worked and waited for…" Elphaba pulled away from Glinda, taking a few steps toward the Grimmerie. "You're leaving all you ever wanted!" She warned as Elphaba stared at the book, the dangerous key to solving this problem.

"I know," She looked back to Glinda. "But I don't want it…no," She wanted it desperately, more than she ever wanted anything else. "I can't want it anymore," The Monkeys needed her, all the Animals being placed in cages, needed her.

"Something has changed within me, something is not the same." Eyes wide, Glinda stared at her friend. Was this the Elphaba she spent the day in the City with? Relaxed, happy, joyful, even? What happened to the Elphaba that nothing bad could ever happen to?

"I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game." Elphaba looked down at the floor, as if trying to see the Wizard through the floor and curse him for ever doing such horrendous things to Animals.

"Too late for second guessing, too late to go back to sleep." She looked out the window again. Few people were left below the balcony. How could she get out of this tower and make it alive, or freely? "It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap…" She finally bent down and picked up the Grimmerie, she could feel power flowing through its ancient covers, begging to be used.

"It's time to try defying gravity...I think I'll try defying gravity," Gravity has always been the enemy, falling was her weakness. The Wizard kept her down on the ground, yet it was he who told her to fly, the hypocrite. She would show him. "and you can't pull me down." Fear of what was going to happed to Elphaba if she continued flooded Glinda. They would find her, hunt her, imprison her…

…maybe even kill her. She had to talk Elphaba out of it, do something to help!

"Can't I make you understand?" Glinda grabbed Elphaba by the shoulders. Elphaba stayed collected the whole time, dark eyes meeting Glinda's pensively. "You're having delusions of grandeur!" Elphaba turned away, shaking off her friend's grip.

"I'm through accepting limits, 'cuz someone says they're so," Elphaba glanced out the window again to where Madame Morrible had stood moments before, declaring to the world Elphaba was their enemy, and they should trust in the Wizard.

"Some things I cannot change, but 'til I try I'll never know." Sorry for the poor, misguided people she had once been one of, she started pacing, trying to find if there was another way to get out of this Ozforsaken tower.

"Too long I've been afraid of losing the love I just lost," Elphaba thought of the Wizard's lies and empty promises, the way he pretended to be trustworthy so Elphaba would read spells for him. "But if that's love, it'd come at much too high a cost!"  
"I'd sooner buy defying gravity." She glanced at Glinda, and was finally struck with what her friend was trying to do. Glinda wanted her to succeed, to be happy, and live a normal life. By following through on her plan, she was turning her back on everything and everyone she loved. _Fiyero…_The thought of him added a pain to the task she gave herself, but she couldn't turn back. She just wished she could have told him how she felt before she left, but had wrongly assumed she'd see him again. "Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity, and you can't pull me down."

Great banging shook the door, the broom barely holding it shut.

"Open this door, in the name of his supreme Ozness!" A man shouted, beating the wooden door again. Glinda froze, not knowing how long the old door and broom would hold against trained guards. Elphaba opened the Grimmerie, searching through its pages for the wing spell. It was the only way to get out of here, and it was now or never.

"Ahven tatey aven tatey aven…" The familiar spell came more easily, Elphaba predicting the next syllable as she read it. Glinda's attention turned from the door to her friend and the magic she was casting.

"What are you doing?! Stop it!" Glinda cried out, fearing the outcome of more spells. "That's what started all this in the first place, that hideous levitation spell!"

"Ah may ah tay atum ah may ah tah tay…" Elphaba continued, lost in the arcane powers at work.

"STOP!" Glinda finally screamed. Elphaba looked up, the magic stopped. She was breathing hard, as if she had just run for miles.

"Well?" Glinda said quietly, relieved that Elphaba had stopped chanting. "Where are your wings?" Realization that she was wingless came to Elphaba. There was no way she could fly. She was trapped, they would capture her, and she had failed. "Maybe you're not as powerful as you think you are…" Glinda turned away. Silence grew with hopelessness and defeat, until Elphaba noticed something jiggling at the door handle. She looked up, and saw the broom she placed under the handle was vibrating, moving. It worked itself free, and started to float strangely with nothing holding it up.

"Sweet Oz!" Glinda exclaimed, backing away from the levitation cleaning tool.

"I told you, Glinda..." Elphaba stood and took the broom in her hands. It had the same buzz of power that the Grimmerie did. "Didn't I tell you?" Elphaba ran her fingers down the handle of the broom, knowing that this would fly. The simple branch and bunch of sticks would be their escape. The guards banged on the door again. Without the broom to block the door, they didn't have much time.

"Quick! Get on!" Elphaba held out the broom to Glinda. She backed away from it warily.

"What?!"

"Glinda, come with me," Elphaba said calmly. Her friend saw what really happened to the Monkeys, how the Wizard was a fraud, how he kept Animals in cages. She knew the truth. "Think of what we could do…together." Glinda stayed cautious, not yet trusting Elphaba's spell work. "Unlimited…together we're unlimited!" Glinda remembered when she was a young girl, she would run around in the backyard, pretending to fly high over Oz and see all the wonders her home had to offer. With Elphie, she could do that. They could both do that. "Together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been, Glinda…" Elphaba took another step, remembering the plans they had made, seemingly so long ago, on a bench outside the ice cream parlor. "Dreams, the way we planned 'em."

"If we work in tandem…" Glinda placed one hand on the broom. She felt her fingers tingle with its power.

"There's no fight we cannot win, just you and I defying gravity!" Glinda placed her second hand on the broom and gripped it tightly. It started to rise a bit, knowing that the pair wanted to fly, but they held it down together. "With you and I defying gravity!"

"They'll never bring us down!" Glinda let go of the broom, and Elphaba collected the Grimmerie. Glinda looked down sadly, having to make the hardest choice of her life. Go with Elphaba in a life of danger for goodness, or stay with the Wizard and be safe, yet fight for evil. She couldn't do it…She couldn't go.

"Well, are you coming?" Elphaba asked Glinda blatantly. She looked like the very picture the Wizard was trying to paint of her: Dark, foreboding, with a strange malevolent power. Did Glinda want to be like that?

"Elphie, you're trembling…" Glinda said with motherly worry, searching for something to give her friend, almost a parting gift. She saw the corner of black fabric from under a few boxes, and pulled it out. A perfect length, wide enough as well. Glinda draped the cloth around Elphaba's shoulders, tying a secure knot. She stepped back and surveyed the completed image. She did look wicked. _The way the Wizard wants her to look. _

"I hope you're happy," Glinda said sadly. "Now that you're…choosing this."

Elphaba understood immediately. No _we're_. She wouldn't come.

"You too," Elphaba thought of the life she was leaving behind, the life Glinda would live. "I hope it brings you bliss,"

"I really hope you get it, and you don't live to regret it!" The two wished, honestly hoping neither of them came to any real harm. "I hope you're happy in the end! I hope you're happy…" Memories of time spent together, pledges of best friends forever running through their heads. "…my friend."  
The door shook again with heavy beating, sure to break. "Go, Elphie!" Glinda hissed, and Elphaba headed towards the window.

"There she is! Don't let her get away!" Glinda spread out her arms defensively, sure that Elphaba was about to fly off. The guards, five of them, rushed into the room and took Glinda roughly.

"What in Oz?!" She shouted, hoping that he noise would help Elphaba get away. "Let go of me! Do you hear me? Let go!"

"It's not her!" The guards dropped Glinda, pointing their spears and the one who had spoken. _Elphie hadn't left yet?! _Glinda thought as she turned to see her best friend. She was pointing the broom at them threateningly. "She has nothing to do with this." She circled slowly to the window. "I'm the one you want! It's me!" The guards rushed forward, but Elphaba tumbled out the window. "It's ME!" Sure she had fallen to her death, the guards were about to turn back to Glinda when a shadow blocked out the rest of the light. The green one was flying! Not falling to her death, flying! The guards stared on in wonder as she stayed suspended in the air, sitting astride the broom confidently.

"So if you care to find me, look to the western sky!" Elphaba pointed, electricity running through her body as she felt the exhilaration of flying, of defying everything that had ever kept her down. "As _someone_ told me lately, everyone deserves the chance to fly! And if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free!" Glinda felt tears well up in her eyes as Elphaba spoke, knowing that she deserted her friend, truly left her alone to fend for herself against the forces of the Wizard.

"To those who ground me, take a message back from me!" Elphaba's broom moved away from the window, flying without any question of anything supporting her, over the square and shorter towers of the palace. "Tell them how I am defying gravity! I'm flying high, defying gravity! And someday I'll match them in renown…"

Her words were echoing around the Emerald City, people flooding the square to see this incredible woman flying, the very woman they needed to capture. Addressing the crowd, Elphaba continued.

"And nobody, in all of Oz," She pointed to the mass of people, staring up at her in terror. "No Wizard that there is or was, is ever gonna bring me DOWN!"

"I hope you're happy!" Glinda called out to Elphaba, as the citizens of the Emerald City shouted up, "Look at her, she's Wicked! Get her!" Elphaba looked down again at the mixture of fear and anger in the people's faces.

"Bring me down!" She called out again, trying to ignore the mean faces, demanding her imprisonment, maybe even death. She started to cry involuntarily, grieving the death of Elphaba Thropp, and the birth of a Wicked Witch.

"No one mourns the wicked! So we have- to- bring- her-"

"Ah-ah-ah-ah!" Elphaba cried out, hiding her tears with more altitude.

"DOWN!!!" The people shouted as Elphaba flew off into the distance.

**There! I hope you're happy! I tried to do it as fast as I could...Intermission now, where hopefully I'll get a chapter or two ahead of demand so that next time I give you a cliffhanger, I can update right away. Review if you loved it, review it you hated it, review if you are eating pineapple upside-down cake, just review! That will make it better! Keep reading and writing! -LostOzian**


	20. Intermission

**WARNING! Violent scene! No descriptions, but knives and betrayal! Just in case you care. -Don't mind me, I'm just a friendly reminder from LostOzian.**

"Galin- oh, sorry, Glinda, what happened?"

"What happened in the tower?"  
"Glinda, we were so worried! Why did she go crazy?"

"Must've been the pressure. Was she under a lot of pressure?"

"Or some hidden brain disease that comes from having green skin."

"Come on, Glinda! Tell us what happened!"

"SHUT UP!!!" Glinda turned on her friends, her eyes starting to burn, petty hatred for each and every one of the puzzled faces building up. They stared at her, innocently scared at her sudden outburst, questions unanswered written all over their faces. "I don't want to talk about it," Glinda turned and ran. Not one of them followed her. All the way up to her room, through the door, barely pausing to make sure the key left the door lock.

Two beds rested in the room, one covered with fluffy pink pillows and a matching comforter. The other stood, stripped and barren, the yellow-stained mattress and pillow washed and sterilized. The other closet stood open, empty hangers a painful reminder of the dark, practical clothing that had hung there but a few days earlier.

Elphaba Thropp was gone forever.

* * *

Elphaba added a few more sticks to the fire, building up the smoldering pile of dry leaves into a small flame. One of the many things she missed about society was fireplaces, but to have heated rooms would mean going back to the Wizard, and she could never do that no matter how cold it got; too many Animals were depending on her.

Somewhere in the forest, a twig snapped. Elphaba jumped to her feet, the broom leaping from the ground beside her to her hand, feeling her instinct to flee. Elphaba stayed on the ground, however, not really knowing what kept her there.

"Who's there?" she called out. The brush rustled as the thing came near. Elphaba mounted her broom in a quick step, ready to fly off-

"Are you the Wick…the Witch?" Elphaba relaxed a tiny bit. They didn't call her 'wicked'. Almost, but not quite. There were three men, ragged and mean-looking. A few daggers hung from their belts, but they stayed sheathed.

"What do you want?" She asked warily, not sure if she should trust these men. The first man kneeled, followed by the other two.

"We have come to support your cause against the Wizard."

* * *

"Well, we went and royally screwed up our chances with Elphaba," The Wizard lounged on his throne in front of the Oz head, nonplussed by the great empty eyes staring down at him.

"It was a mistake to show her the other Monkeys," Madame Morrible was pacing, not taking the same reclining attitude as her superior. "I should have remembered the day Dr. Dillamond was arrested, and how she reacted. An obvious clue."

The Wizard glanced around the corner of the Oz head to the great tapestry, hiding and almost blotting out the new voice in the gigantic cage.

"You'll never keep me in here! I'll get out! You can't do this to respectable A-a-a-animals!"

"Aw, shut up, you old goat," The Wizard mumbled, tapping his foot in the air with a bored manner. "We need to keep her friends quiet, though. I propose the usual. Bait 'em with their dreams…"

"They're certainly not as smart as Elphaba, so it should work. You will probably earn their trust by showing yourself, but don't show them the Monkeys. That Glinda already knows, but she wouldn't side with Elphaba."

"I won't…though you did ruin their use as spies by blaming Elphaba with them." Madame Morrible puffed up defensively.

"I had to! It was the only way to get the general public stirred up like that."

"Fine, fine…just tell her friends that they get to meet with me next break. I'll have it paid for and everything, just let them meet me."

"As you wish, your Ozness."

* * *

Elphaba stared at the Gale Force guard. Why would he come? Why did he not resist her followers? Elphaba smirked ruefully as she though of what they called themselves. Elph, Elphs in the plural, short for Elphaba, her name. They had all these visions of glory and finally defeating the Wizard and restoring peace to Oz. Many of them didn't think of doing this for the Animals; that freeing them from cages was just to deal another blow against the Wizard and his Gale Force.

"You have to believe me," The guard said pathetically, his legs limp as he was being held up by two Elphs. "I've seen the Wizard, and his cage. It was terrible. That's why I ran away from the Force. I couldn't stand having things like that done to Animals." He stared up at her, pleading to be a part of the resistance.

"Let him go," Elphaba said. "He knows how the Gale Force works, and would be invaluable." The two Elphs dropped the man. He got up and brushed the green uniform off.

"Welcome to the Elphs," She said, extending her hand. He took it with a firm handshake, gratitude written all over his face. She turned away; ready to go off on other duties. There was the issue of a slaughterhouse not far from here, where the butcher there killed mercilessly, not caring whether his meat came from animals or Animals. It needed to be rooted out and-

"HEY!" Someone shouted. Elphaba whipped around, raising her broom just in time to block a knife from the Gale Force guard that they had just let into their band. He snarled angrily that is assassination attempt had failed, then screamed as an Elph was forced to kill him.

"Are you all right, Elphaba?" Other Elphs checked their leader for injuries.

"I'm fine…" She glanced down at the body of the Gale Force spy. "Maybe a little defense magic is in order…" She left to her little makeshift tent to find a proper 'protect from harm' spell in the Grimmerie. Her hat would do nicely….

* * *

"It must be really terrible, Nessa," Minnex, a new friend of Nessa's, said as she pushed her chair to history class. "Knowing your sister's…y'know…"

"Not really." Nessa stared down, counting the rows of cobblestones in the road as they passed them.

"What do you mean?" Minnex looked around the chair to its occupant. Nessa's face stayed blank and even as she talked.

"Elphaba was always kind to me…" Nessa started. "But she was always better than I was. Nobody ever pitied her once they got to know her, but everybody's always too sympathetic to me." Nessa sniffed, thoughts of her sister becoming more vivid as she voiced her opinions aloud.

"She was always smarter, more talented…" Her confusedly swirling sea of emotions was stirring again, but Nessa continued. "More beautiful than I am. Now, I don't have to compete with her. I can be myself _and_ be the best for once."

Minnex continued pushing the chair in silence until they reached the History building. Nessa couldn't help thinking of the other opinion she held on Elphaba's departure, reasons she wished her sister had never left; never deserted her. Elphaba, her caretaker, her best friend, her crying shoulder.

She especially missed her crying shoulder ever since Boq left her, too.

* * *

"And now, presenting our valedictorian for this year's graduating class, Fiyero Tiggular!" Madame Morrible bowed aside, still maintaining her job as headmistress along with her duties as Press Secretary.

Fiyero walked slowly to the podium, reciting his carefully memorized speech in his head.

"I can barely remember when I first came to Shiz," he began. "I was uneducated, and didn't really have the want to learn." He gazed out over the crowd, his mind racing at a speed it had never known about what to tell them all. Tell the truth? Would they believe it?

"I think it was…the atmosphere of Shiz, which finally got me motivated to learn. That and the appearance of the Witch." Fiyero paused for breath and to keep himself from blurting out: 'The Wizard lies! I knew Elphaba, and she isn't evil! She's not a wicked witch!' He remembered the meeting with Morrible: _If you promise to remain silent, never speak Elphaba's name again, then you can be guaranteed of glory for the rest of your life._

"I am going to accept a position offered to me in the Wizard's Gale Force Guard, so that I may find the Witch." Applause broke out, approving Fiyero's declaration of his intention to end the Witch's reign of terror. "I believe my time at Shiz has prepared me for this job." He sat down, keeping eye contact with Glinda, the only other one who knew the truth. _As soon as I find her, I'm leaving you. _Fiyero thought as he stared the beautiful girl. _You'd probably want to know. _


	21. Thank Goodness

A shadowy gloom seemed to be cast over the day, gray clouds barring out most of the sunlight, and the citizens of Oz could not help but think of the horrible Witch darkening the western Winkie Country.

"Every day was wicked, every day the terror rose!" Mothers would tell young children, asking why people kept to themselves and rushed along, never spending too much time outside. "All of Oz is ever on alert!"

"But that's the way with Wicked, spreading fear where e'er she goes!" Fathers kept blinds shut, trying not to light their towns a site where the dreaded Witch could strike. "Seeking out new victims she can hurt!" Even in the Emerald City, under the protection of the Wizard and his new advisor, Glinda the Good Witch, people were panicked, barely daring to move. Foreigners, if they existed, would have been puzzled by this fear of one person, but they wouldn't have understood the power the Wicked Witch held.

"Like some terrible green blizzard, throughout the land, she flies!" An eyewitness of the first appearance of the Witch said to a friend in the Wizard's central park.

"Defaming our poor Wizard, with her calumnies and lies!" He answered, rushing them both along to get out of the park. "She lies!"

The only thought of all Ozians held on late nights echoed in their minds: "Save us from the wicked, shield us so we won't be hexed! Give us warning: where will she strike next?"

"Where will she strike next?" The worry was voiced by the people, addressing their beloved Glinda at a press conference in said Central Park. "Where will she strike next?!"

"Fellow Ozians," Her voice rang out like a crystal bell, calming the crowd. "As terrifying as terror is, let us put aside our panic for this one day," She hung her head reverently. Then, with a sudden burst of perkiness, she raised it again. "And celebrate!" A kind of relief filled on the crowd's face, knowing that Glinda thought there was still reason to celebrate.

"Oh, what a celebration we'll have today!" Glinda said happily, smiling grace and sunshine on the not-quite-lovely day.

"Thank goodness!" Someone from the back shouted, causing everybody to laugh. Of _course_ they should thank goodness, because they're the reason there's still goodness in the world!

"Let's have a celebration the Glinda way!" She giggled in her becoming way, endearing herself even more to the people watching her every move.

"Thank goodness!" the crowd chorused, catching on to the first person's idea.

"Finally a day that's totally wicked-witch free…" Madame Morrible said, keeping the Witch fresh in their minds. Glinda bit the inside of her lip. She wished Madame Morrible wouldn't bring up Elphie as a 'wicked Witch'. Not here, not now. Not ever…

"We couldn't be happier! Thank goodness!" The crowd clamored to the large podium, staring up to Glinda for support in this troubling time.

"And thank goodness for you, Glinda, and your handsome swain, our new Captain of the Guard." Glinda looked to Fiyero beside her, marvelous in his Captain of the Guard's uniform, decorated with gold and siver streaks representing different merits and achievemets. He nodded solemnly to Madame Morrible's praise, the image of a serious devoted guardsman. Everybody loved the strong presence he held, like they could depend on the Gale Force and its great leader to keep evil far away from them.

"Now you've been at the forefront of the hunt for the Wicked Witch, haven't you?" She asked in her famous reporter's tone.

"Well, yes, but I don't like to think of her as a Wicked Wit-" Fiyero began, but was cut off by Madame Morrible.

"Captain!" She said sharply, in a warning voice. "How does it feel?" She returned to her smooth, confident media voice.

"Frustrating," Fiyero walked to the edge of the podium, addressing the crowd in a commanding voice. "But I became captain of the guard to find her, and I will keep searching!"

"No!" Madame Morrible gushed. "Being engaged!" The entire crowd shouted at once:

"Congratulations!" A banner unfolded from a bridge above them. A few bangs from party poppers (a creation of the Wizard) rang out.

"This is an _engagement_ party?!" Fiyero demanded, but Glinda just smiled.

"Surprised?" She asked.

"A little, yes!" Fiyero said angrily. "Could you have maybe as-"

"Good! We hoped you'd be!" Glinda took his arm in hers. "The Wizard and I, that is," Glinda laughed again, and everybody sighed at the pretty picture it was. The Captain of the Guard and Glinda the Good Witch, devoted to eradicating evil and to each other. Astoundingly cute.

"We couldn't be happier. Right, dear?" She looked up at Fiyero. His eyes were dark and downcast, not daring to look at her.

"Couldn't be happier, right here." Glinda tried to reinforce, make him smile the way he would at Shiz, but he had always been so serious since Elphaba left, even more so with each promotion he had received in quick succession. "Look what we've got! A fairy-tale plot! Our very own happy ending! Where we couldn't be happier… True, dear? Couldn't be happier." She unlinked her arm from Fiyero and spread them wide to the crowd.

"And we're happy to share our ending vicariously with all of you!" Glinda looked back to Fiyero again. "He couldn't look handsomer, I couldn't be…" _More beautiful. Good. Wonderful…no, none of those are right for now. _"…humbler, we couldn't be happier, because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true." Madame Morrible patted Glinda's shoulder affectionately.

"Oh, and Glinda, dear, we are happy for you!" Madame Morrible beamed at her _incredibly gifted_ and _most favored _sorcery student from Shiz. "As Press Secretary, I have striven to ensure that all of Oz knows the story of your braverism!" She gripped the railing of the podium dramatically.

"I remember it well…" She stared off into the distance as if being returned to the scene. "The day you were first summoned, to an audience with Oz, and although he would not tell you why initially, when you bowed before his throne, he decreed you'd hence be known as Glinda the Good officially!" The crowd clapped and screamed approval for their new figurehead.

"That's _not_ what you described to me!" Fiyero bent down and whispered harshly. Glinda shifted a little bit. The meeting with the Wizard had involved more image consulting than formal decrees, as Madame Morrible liked to put it.

"Well, no, not exactly…" Glinda was about to respond when Madame Morrible silenced the celebrants with a wave of her hands. "…but we'll talk about it later."

"Then with a jealous squeee!" Madame Morrible screeched the 'word' squeee. "The Wicked Witch bust from concealment! Where she had been looking surreptitially!" The crowd started on hearing that on what was probably the happiest day of Glinda's life, after this, the event had been overshadowed by the Witch. They began to talk amongst themselves, repeating tales of the terrors of her evil power. Glinda and Fiyero could only hear the rumors from those closest to the podium.

"I hear she has an extra eye that always remains awake!" One woman said to another. She nodded, aghast, but topped it with her own rumor.

"I hear that she can shed her skin as easily as a snake!" Another woman overheard the first two, and believed she should share her own news.

"I hear that rebel Animals go to her for food and shelter!" The first two fell silent, having used the best of their stories already.

"I hear her soul is so unclean," A man interrupted the gossiping women. "Pure water will _melt_ her!" Fiyero started. Leaning low over the rail, he caught the man by the sleeve.

"What?!" He asked.

"_Melt_ her!" The cluster that had heard the rumor repeated. Fiyero let go, the new development forming in his mind. "Please, somebody go and _melt_ her!" Fiyero turned to Glinda angrily.

"Did you hear that? Water will _melt _her?" Fiyero started down the stairs. "People are so _empty-headed_ they'll believe anything!"

"Excuse me a clock-tick," Glinda pardoned herself to Madame Morrible, and then followed her troubled fiancée away from the crowd. Fiyero was standing alone, staring moodily out at the rest of the park. He glanced up at Glinda as she came to stand beside him.

"I can't just stand here grinning pretending to go along with all of this! You heard the lies they tell about her!" Fiyero said, not turning to tell this to Glinda, the person who threw her whole heart into the larger-than-life stories and deceptions. It's partly her fault.

"Do you think I like to hear them say those awful things about her?" Glinda tried to catch Fiyero's eye. "I hate it!"

"Then what are we doing here?" Fiyero grabbed her wrist and started off down the park lane. "Let's go, let's get out of here!" Glinda was reminded inescapably of Elphaba in the tower, possessed by a righteous resolve that meant leaving everything she ever knew. Glinda wasn't prepared to make that leap of faith then, she wasn't about to do it now.

"We can't leave now!" Glinda pulled her arm away, and Fiyero stopped. He wondered briefly how she could argue her way out of this one. "Not when people are looking to us to raise their spirits." Fiyero shook his head slowly.

"You can't leave, because you can't resist _this_." He gestured his arm to the throngs of people, gazing up at Madame Morrible as she provided some thrilling tale as a distraction. "You never could."

"So what if I can't? Is that so wrong?" She looked out to the sea of people, whom she was sure were smiling. "Who could?"

"You know who could, and who has. She could have had all this." _This could have been her engagement party. _Fiyero's intense eyes met Glinda's. She was scared by these new eyes, full of fire, hating something but she didn't know what. She could never help wondering where the cool Fiyero from Shiz had gone, the Fiyero that loved her truly. The thoughts of this Fiyero she once knew disturbed her, made her wonder if Fiyero still loved her. He had to. She couldn't imagine a life without him. And she was sick of the pair of them retiring to their rooms in the Wizard's palace, Fiyero immediately going and pouring over maps of Oz marked with where Elphaba had been sighted, never speaking to her unless spoken to. She had to make him hers again.

"Fiyero, I miss her too, but we can't just stop living. No one has searched harder for her than you. But don't you see? She doesn't want to be found." She pleaded with him, hoping that he might still see reason and become the relaxed, impervious Fiyero once again. "We have to face it."

Fiyero stopped, finally realizing how pathetic he was acting. He had seen Glinda's expression before, the desperately pleading longing. It was back at Shiz, when Nessa had practically begged for Boq to come back to her.

Boq. Stupid, idiot Fiyero! Valedictorian and he still didn't have the brains to add two and two. Glinda told Boq to go out with Nessa because she didn't love him. Boq had desperately tried to make Glinda notice him, but it didn't work. The whole time at the OzDust, after Glinda left, Fiyero had tried all too hard to impress Elphaba. Did she think of him the same way Glinda had thought of Boq? She didn't want to be found, least of all by him. He had to stop acting like a child pursuing a butterfly and realize he could never catch it without sprouting wings himself.

"You're right. I'm sorry, you're right." Fiyero looked down at the ground apologetically. "And if it's going to make you happy, of course I'll marry you."

_There you go, off following in Boq's footsteps. It's destined for heartbreak from someone. _Something in his head told him, scorning the marriage pledge.

_There's a chance she might care. I have to do it. _He took her hands gently; his eyes empty of the usual fire, but not cool. Glinda could see doused cinders still trying to create a blaze.

_That doesn't make sense, marrying someone else because she might love you._ The voice of reason said.

_Shut up. _Fiyero focused on Glinda in front of him, trying to ignore the foolishness of what he was doing.

"But it'll make you happy too, right?" Glinda wasn't sure if a submissive Fiyero was better or worse than the angry one. Too much life or too little was a delicate balance.

"I can't back out now, can I?" Fiyero kissed her hand tenderly. "But don't worry. I'll be happy." _She would want us to._ He dropped her hands, turned, and ran, not really caring about the multitudes of people who might be watching. He needed…something. Some kind of sign from Elphaba, something to tell she hadn't forgotten about him. _She probably has..._

"Fiyero!" Glinda called, then noticed the silence behind her. Everybody was looking at her expectantly, wondering why the Captain of the Guard was running off into the distance. She turned back, and, improvising, shouted after him. "Thanks plenty, dearest!" She faced the people again, this time prepared with a Glinda smile.

"He's gone to fetch me a refreshment!" She said happily, hoping the lie would placate the expectant people. "He's so thoughtful that way!" She climbed up onto the podium again, taking her place to talk to the people, and somehow cover for the loss of Fiyero.

"That's why I couldn't be happier. No…I couldn't be happier!" Something still niggled at Glinda's conscience, the idea of someone else deserving of all the attention. The dreams of changing Oz with someone else still haunted dreams the Wizard had granted, leaving a bittersweet edge to the happiness. _This wasn't what I wanted glory to be like. _She found her voice again, ending the silence before it grew too awkward.

"I couldn't be happier!" She said, hoping it didn't sound too forced and repetitive. Rumors were already starting to blossom in the people's minds as her message seemed to cause her some sort of pain. Was Fiyero seeing another woman? Did he accuse her of seeing another man? Was she pregnant? "Simply couldn't be happier!" _No. _She thought. _This wasn't simple. _

"But there's been a kind of a…minor…cost." Glinda forced the word 'minor', ever mindful of Madame Morrible's presence. _She_ had never been minor. "Sometimes the little things get lost…" The crowd was puzzled. Happiness had a price? Of course, the price of hard work, doing things the difficult way, but it seemed like Glinda was suggesting some sort of personal sacrifice had been necessary for her perfect life to have come to pass.

"There are bridges you cross you didn't know you've crossed until you've crossed!" It was all Glinda could do to keep from mentioning Elphaba, how they had been friends, the Wizard was evil, she could have gone and done what was right instead of what was easy. Listing all her luxuries, Glinda weighed them against the freedom of the Monkeys in the Wizard's cage. Galas. Beautiful gowns. Fine food. Public appeal…it wasn't worth it! All of the things she had wanted turned sour as she remembered those that had suffered to make it come true, those who weren't even legal citizens anymore. She surveyed the people again, blissfully unaware of the horrors the Wizard held. She had to be happy. This was what she wanted. Wasn't it?

"But remember, all…" Glinda said again, making sure the crowd still knew she was speaking. "Happy is what happens when your dreams come true!"

The words were met with thunderous applause, prompted behind Glinda's back by Madame Morrible.

"We love you, Glinda, if we may be so frank!" They promised, declaring undying love to Glinda.

"Thank goodness!" She said. She hadn't screwed up. She hadn't betrayed her discussion with Fiyero. She hadn't slipped that she knew Elphaba. Things were perfect. If this wasn't perfect, what was?  
"For all this joy we know who we've got to thank! Thank goodness!" The Ozians weren't even really talking to Glinda, just voicing what hey though aloud. "That means the Wizard, Glinda,"

"And…fiancée…" Glinda added, sure she had everything in the world to owe to Fiyero. _No, you owe it to Elphie. _Glinda fidgeted slightly with her ring finger, and the absence of a ring on it. _She still gave Fiyero to you._

"They couldn't be goodlier…" The crowd continued, sure in the trust they were placing in their leaders. "She couldn't be lovelier…We couldn't be luckier!"

"I couldn't be happier!" Glinda announced again, still trying to force the idea in her head. _You are happy. This is happiness. You couldn't be happier! _

"Thank goodness…today!" The people stared up adoringly at Glinda, Madame Morrible letting the younger lady take the limelight…for now. "Thank goodness for today!"

**Warning! Warning! We are now approaching spoiler territory for Wicked the real musical! If you have any real desire to see it on stage without much more being ruined, then stop, go see Wicked, then come back and see me. If you've already had the ending ruined or don't care, then read on...as soon as I can be bothered to update...I usually am. Reviews remind me why I go on out of Oz, so send them and I'll keep reading and writing, and may you do so too! -LostOzian.**


	22. Wicked Witch of the East

"We're steady in the southern Vinkus, but not that steady." Salamaris pointed on the map. "Northern Vinkus is pretty heavily allied with the Wizard, maybe trying to make up for the fact you're here, Elphaba. We need a stronghold there to spread out from."

"There's barely enough of us to divide camp and still survive," Jacatu pointed out. "What with all the scouts we need for finding Animals and recruiting."

"How are the other territories?" Elphaba scanned the map, trouble spots marked with small red flags. The center of the map was a sea of red, one large flag directly in the center of the Emerald City.

"Gillikin is leaning our way, but hasn't officially declared support. Quadling is exactly the opposite, the City is obvious, and Munchkinland is silent as the grave." Salamaris examined the map. "It's like it's not even there. We haven't heard anything _at all_, Animal related or not."

"I'll go find out what Father is doing there." Elphaba picked up her broom and left the tent in a swirl of black skirts, careful that her hat was firmly upon her head. She passed through the camp with a purpose, noticing the familiar sights in the mobile camp. A fire was constantly going in the middle, an old blacksmith they found a few months ago melting down piles of cage metal into blocks for sale or use. They actually made very nice stools, if you could move the weight. A few people wandered around with mute Animals in tow, talking to them about everything they saw and passed, trying to get them to speak again. She could tell at a glance those who were rescued recently and those saved when the resistance started. Older ones were saying random words depending on what was the most effortless for them to say. Most of them usually called her 'Aba' the long 'a' sound easier for them to say than 'Elphaba'.

Elphaba passed these sights with barely a backward glance, and took off to the sky, staying low in the trees first so observers couldn't tell where she had taken off from. It was nice here, but there was business at home to attend to.

* * *

Nessarose sipped cautiously at the rose hip tea, the perfect blend of flavor and heat.

"Will there be anything else, Madame?" Boq bowed slightly, acknowledging Nessa's superiority over him. Something inside had snapped a while ago, and Boq didn't really care what she asked of him much anymore.

"I've asked you to call me Nessarose," Nessa laughed slightly as if Boq had just made a pun. His mouth didn't even move as Nessa giggled. "Remember?"  
"Yes, Madame." Boq said stoically. He left the room, habit leading him to stay away from his governor, though he wasn't worried about what order she might provide next. Nessa watched him go sadly. All this while, and he still avoided her. She set down the tea and picked up a hand mirror from the dresser and checked her reflection. Delicate face, careful makeup, hair pulled back in a simple and neat bun, long black silk dress. What was not to love about an attractive face like hers?

"Well, it seems the beautiful only get more beautiful," A voice said from somewhere. Nessa dropped the mirror in her lap and spun the chair around in fright. Elphaba was standing, one foot still in her sister's wardrobe as she climbed out. "While the green just get greener." She shrugged her shoulders at the thought, then looked at her sister for the first time in about three years.

"It's good to see you," Elphaba said softly, studying the face of a girl that had become a woman all too soon for her liking. Nessa had always, in some way or another, been less like a sister, and strangely more like a daughter. Someone who needed Elphaba to look after her, to care for her, looked up at her to always have the right answer when she was little.

"What are you doing here?" Nessa demanded nervously, shrinking back into her chair. Elphaba was a ghost from her past, the only person that could ever have told her no.

"There's no place like home," Elphaba said innocently, like a little girl again. "Can't a person go home every once in a while?" Nessa remained wary, not sure Elphaba was here to chat. She had always been too busy saving the Animals of Oz to visit her sister. Elphaba sighed as she saw her sister was unconvinced.

"All right. The truth is, I need Father's help. I need him to support our cause."

"Our?" Nessa said reproachfully. Did Elphaba somehow think SHE supported her sister in running around Oz and opposing the Wizard?

"The 'Elphs' and I." Of course. Those idiots that ran around in Elphaba's wake, making noise and occasionally doing something worth noticing.

"That's impossible," Nessa said, for once glad she could tell Elphaba no instead of the other way around.

"What do you mean? All I have to do is ask, and if he approves-"

"Father," Nessa said cockily. "is dead. I'm the governor." She stopped to let the words sink in. Elphaba seemed lost for a minute, memories of time spent with her father flooding back, the good and the bad all mixed into one big pool. How could father be gone? It wasn't possible.

"What did you expect?" Nessa felt contempt and a strange joy in rubbing this fact into her sister. "With you getting your little green face all over Munchkinland with your great achievements: spelling bees, math competitions, everybody knew who the father of the great terror of the west was. They blamed _him_, Elphaba, for what you're doing." Finally, the grief of talking about her own father settled in. "He was killed by a mob in Munchkin Square, about a month after you left." She started openly crying, fond memories of her own playing havoc with her emotion. It was impossible to stay straight-faced in the face of her rival, talking about such things.

"Don't cry, Nessie," Elphaba knelt down to hug her sister. Nessa could feel tears on the green cheek as it pressed against hers. "We'll pull through. You and I…"

"No!" Nessa shoved Elphaba off of her. The feared Wicked Witch of the West landed with a thud and a bemused expression. "There never was a 'you _and I_'," Nessa said accusingly. "You deserted me at Shiz after you left! How can you call that a 'you _and I_'?" Nessa wheeled her chair, advancing on Elphaba. The green one scuttled away, being shorter than Nessa now that she was on the ground.

"All of my life I'd depended on you! How do you think that feels?!" Elphaba ran into a wall, and used it to pull her up, slowing Nessa's advance. "All of my life I'd depended on you and this hideous chair with wheels!" She finally stopped, Elphaba cornered two inches from the wall. "Drowning in bits pity to pick up, and longing to kick up my heels…"

"Nessie…" Nessa turned away from her sister at the use of her pet name. "Nessa, I'm sorry that I left you at Shiz! It's not like I could have said goodbye for good, I had no idea what the Wizard was up to when I left!"

"You didn't just leave me," Nessa said. "You left your studies, your friends, and leaving Father was the worst thing you could have done. He's dead now because of what you did!"

"Is it enough to say I'm sorry?!" Elphaba was almost pleading with her sister, not stooping to the level to push the chair and its helpless occupant out of the way. "I never wanted this to happen! I'm trying to help-"

"Help?!" Nessa spat, her face becoming an ugly sneer, unbecoming of her fragile features. "You can't even help your own sister, who needed you since the moment she was born!"

"Nessa, I'm not all-powerful! I don't know everything! There's only so much you can do with magic!" Nessa finally let Elphaba out of the corner, but only to turn her back on her sister. "It's not like…cobbling up a pair of…" Wait. It _was_. Elphaba knelt down and started to flip through the Grimmerie. She flipped past an owl, a hand, the bat wings, then finally she saw it. A simple human figure was standing, a crutch discarded, with a pair of glowing shoes. _Cripples may walk,_ Elphaba scanned the spell, thinking of how best to cast it.

"What are you doing?" Nessa was intrigued. "What is that?" Maybe there was a spell for this…

"Ha be mun dah bay la fae na to ha bey mun dah bay han oh say… (**I think…**)" Elphaba started moving her hands, as if trying to bring the magic closer to her. Nessa wheeled closer. She had actually never seen Elphaba cast a spell this way before; it had always been with some sort of wand. Suddenly, Elphaba grabbed Nessa's feet and the jeweled shoes she had received from Father the first day at Shiz. She had taken to wearing them constantly since he died as a reminder of her dear father's love. The shoes started to glow, bright red a sharp contrast to the silver in the shoes. Nessa felt something in her legs…pain. A licking pain, like fire.

"My shoes!" She gripped the chair, squirmed, anything to relieve the pain in her feet. "It feels like they're on fire!" She backed away from Elphaba, not trusting her anymore to fix her problems. "What have you done to my shoes!?!"

"…la fae na to la fae na to ha." Elphaba raised one hand. Nessa's left foot shot out, pulled forward by some mysterious force, the shoe like a glowing ember. Then the other hand. The right foot joined the left. Nessa held on tight to the chair, her body almost horizontal to the floor. Elphaba raised her hands together, and Nessa was eased into a standing position. She looked down, her legs supporting her, good for something! The shoes glowed brightly like stars, red gems in a dark world. Suddenly, the glow faltered a bit, and Nessa's strength left her legs. She fell down, hard, her legs stiff. Elphaba rushed over to help her sister. Had the spell gone wrong? Did it wear off? Was something happening to Nessa and not just the shoes?

"No!" Nessa said in a commanding voice Elphaba had never heard before. "Don't help me," Elphaba was concerned, that even in her moment of weakness, Nessa was refusing help. She pulled herself up against the chair, her knees unmoving. Elphaba wondered if this was the spell's fault. The shoes glowed even brighter as she came to a full stand, finding her balance quickly and surveying the world from this new height. It was truly spectacular, like a bird flying for the first time. Nessa's smile could have been measured in feet as she looked about her.

"Oh, Nessa, at last…" Elphaba stood up as well, admiring her sister's elation at standing, reminding herself of being in the Emerald City. Well, before everything went wrong. "I've done what long ago I should, and from these powers something good! Something good…" Nessa tried walking a few steps, easing into use of her knees, constantly having to wave her arms to keep from falling over.

"Boq!" she shouted. Leaning on her dresser, she rang a little bell a few times. "Boq, come quickly!"

"Boq?" Elphaba questioned, looking to Nessa for an answer. Boq was here? The little bell couldn't have meant he was here visiting. And what had Nessa been doing so that nobody knew what was going on in Munchkinland?

"Boq! Come at once!" Nessa let go of the dresser and turner her chair facing away from the door.

"Nessa! What's going on?" Elphaba tried to ask her sister, but she just smiled and hid herself behind the wardrobe Elphaba herself had hid in.

"What is it, Madame…?" Boq opened the door, leaving him seemingly alone in the room with Elphaba. He saw her, then glanced around briefly for Nessa.

"Boq…" This was the first time Elphaba had seen Boq as well. He seemed older, more tired, less…alive. Something was terribly wrong with the way he walked, spoke, even looked.

"What are you doing here?" Boq said sharply, suddenly electrified with hidden energy. "You stay back!" Boq pressed himself against the wall.

"Boq, I'm not going to hurt you!" Elphaba tried to take a step forward, but Boq found a letter opener on a table and held it out at her threateningly.

"You're lying!" He shouted, years of pain and anguish he had learned to ignore seeping into his voice. "That's all you ever do! You and your sister!" Nessa lied? The Nessa Elphaba knew was too scared of being caught to lie. She couldn't even lie about doing her homework. Then again, the new Nessa was full of harsh resolve and determination. Could the new Nessa be capable of lying? "She's as wicked as you are!"

"Boq, what are you talking about?" Elphaba asked him, trying to piece together the answers herself but going nowhere. The letter opener drooped to his side, depression overshadowing his face.

"I'm talking about my life." He said simply. "The little that's left of it. I'm not free to leave Munchkinland, none of us are." The magic words. That's why nobody heard of Munchkinland anymore. Nobody was able to leave, to tell people what was happening. "Ever since _she_ took power, she's been stripping the Munchkins of our rights... and we didn't have that many to begin with!" He pointed at the empty chair, honestly believing that Nessa was in it. She couldn't walk, so she had to be in it. He didn't even care if she heard him saying things like this. There wasn't anything more she could take away to punish him with; the only punishment she could give was to let him go.  
"And do you know _why_?!" Boq continued, ready to say every little thought he had harbored against Nessa, everything about her that made him cringe and long to go to Glinda, even if she called him 'Bick' and barely knew he was there. He'd at least be away from _her_.

"To keep you here with me?" Nessa suggested from behind the wardrobe. Boq looked first to the chair, then turned as Nessa walked from behind the wardrobe. Her stride was almost normal, the shoes down to a dull glow. "because none of that matters anymore. Look," She pointed one foot, the glittering slipper matching her hopeful face. She was perfect now. Nothing could make him not love her. They'd be happy together, life perfect. Boq looked to Elphaba, barely believing the miracle before him.

"You did this for her?" He asked. This wasn't a wicked deed, this was good! There was nothing wrong with wanting to help someone else, and succeeding. This was the best day of his life! She didn't need help anymore.

"For both of us," Nessa said gently, taking Boq's hands in her own. Nessa was a short girl, even when standing, which made Boq the perfect height for her.

"This changes everything," Boq said, Nessa nodding eagerly. This was exactly like the night at the OzDust, everything perfect, people smiling, dancing, having a great time, and Nessa could finally join them on the floor, able to dance as well as the next person. "Listen, Nessa?"

"Yes?" This was the question! Nessa felt over the moon, her hands started shaking in Boq's steady hold.

"Uh, Nessa? Surely now I'll matter less to you, and you won't mind my leaving here tonight…"

"Leaving?" Nessa's smile remained frozen on her face. Were they leaving together? Yes, that would be so romantic. Finding a lovely shore along the river in Northern Munchkinland. Father had owned a cottage there, which was hers now…

"Yes... There's a ball that's being staged, announcing Glinda is engaged…" Boq continued, his eyes growing wistful to be there, to be the one escorting Glinda to her engagement ball.

"Glinda." Nessa felt her world collapsing, with the one person who kept her living the next day gone. It all made sense. HIM leaving to go to Glinda's engagement ball. Not: 'Glinda's getting married, so let's announce our engagement on the same day.' Or even: 'Hey, Nessa, let's go pay our respects to Glinda,'. He wants to go see Glinda.

"Yes, Nessa, that's right." Boq dropped Nessa's hands. She retreated to Elphaba, burying herself in the black fabric of Elphaba's dress and cloak. "And I've got to go appeal to her, express the way I feel to her." Elphaba held Nessa tight, her heart being broken all over again. Elphaba imagined the feeling, putting together little bits from her own life. Finding out she loved Fiyero. Realizing she'd never see him again. Discovering that he and Glinda were going to be married…

"I lost my heart to Glinda from the moment I first saw her. You know that." Boq said apologetically, as if she had just made a mistake and it was his fault, but she should forgive him and all would be well.

_No. _Nessa pulled her head off of Elphaba's shoulder. _I didn't know. _

"Lost your heart…" Thoughts swirled around in her head, bits and pieces of different ideas forming into a plan. "We'll just see about that!"

"Nessa, let him go!" Elphaba tried to tell her sister, but Nessa ignored her, advancing on Boq. If Elphaba could do it, why couldn't she?

"Did you think I'd let you leave me here flat?!" Nessa took another step forward, her legs starting to shake. The shoes glowed bright again, casting dark shadows in contrast to the red light. The light reached her face, adding read to the pale porcelain features in a frightening combination.

"Don't come any closer!" Boq tried to threaten her with the letter opener, but she ignored it completely.

"You're going to lose your heart to _me_, I tell you!" She felt possessed, only one thing mattered in the whole world and it was Boq. She would have traded everything: governor, home, money, even the magic shoes to have him love her, but it wouldn't be enough! There was only one thing she could do. "If I have to…I have to…" She searched for the best term, but the best she could manage was: "Magic-spell you!" She let herself fall beside the Grimmerie, open and lying on the floor. She scanned through the pages, looking at the pictures the way Elphaba would when searching for a new spell. A leg of turkey. A gold chalice. A long bone. A person holding a heart…That had to be it!

"Ah... Tum... Tah... Tae..." Nessa started, the words falling from her lips choppily. Elphaba could feel the power trying to be used, but failing. Nessa didn't have the talent to do this.

"Nessa, stop!" Elphaba tried to take the book away, but Nessa threw her off, keeping the book away, not daring to look up as she tried to interpret the words.

"What is she doing?!" Boq demanded, pointing to Nessa on the floor. Elphaba paled to a dark cucumber. She got a glance of the picture on the page. It was familiar, she had seen it before, and had guessed the spell was supposed to remove your enemies' heart. Nessa must have though it meant Boq would fall in love with her.

"You're pronouncing the words all wrong!" _And this isn't the spell you think it is!_ The letter opener clattered to the floor. Elphaba looked up and saw Boq clutching at his chest, not able to breathe.

"NESSA!" Elphaba shouted, and her sister finally looked up. She screamed, panic filling her. Is Boq going to die? Was it her fault? Could anything be done? Elphaba rushed over to Boq, searching him for injuries, dreading that he had one she couldn't see.

"What is it, where does it hurt?" Elphaba asked calmly, trying not to think of what happened to people who didn't have a heart, and needed one.

"My…heart…" Boq's voice was weak, pain choking off his throat. "It feels…like it's shrinking…" The deed was done, and it was all Elphaba could do to try and make it a bit better. It was impossible to fix completely.

"Elphaba, do something!" Nessa was shoving the Grimmerie into Elphaba's hands, tears streaming down her face. "Quick! Reverse it!"

"You can't reverse a spell once it's been cast," Elphaba recited spiritlessly, trying to think of what could be done.

"Oh, I am so stupid!" Nessa wailed, turning from Boq in her chair and Elphaba. "If I had let you cast it-"

"I wouldn't have, it's unethical." Elphaba stood in front of the chair looking at Boq's paling face, blood lying stagnant in his veins. He didn't have long. What creature didn't need a heart? Everything did, anything that needed blood did-.

Wait. One of the Elphs had commented on a pile of scrap cage metal a few days back. 'Cold, heartless metal,' he had said. Metal. _Nessa, I'm so sorry… _She thought as she opened the Grimmerie to find the spell.

Nessa watched, helpless, as Elphaba flipped pages hurriedly, battling for Boq's life. She knew better than to interfere; if she did, he might die. She said a silent prayer to herself to any God or force in nature that would listen.

_Save him. Please, just save him! _She stared down at her feet, able to take her anywhere she wanted, but all she wanted was to be with Boq, wherever he was. He could be dead next minute, but even then she wasn't sure if she wanted to go on if that happened. She would want to just lie down beside his cold body and die with him. All her life, ever since Elphaba left, was rash and desperate. Boq wanted to leave, so she made none of the Munchkins able to, and he stayed by her side. He started to speak out, so she made all of Munchkinland silent to words against her, and he didn't say a thing. What more could she do now, kill every single Munchkin so he could go on living? There was no decree to end death, no law to abolish a person's demise. She wondered if he had wanted this, do die and finally be free of her stranglehold.

_She's as wicked as you are._ She glanced in the mirror on the wardrobe. The face she had called beautiful a few moments ago was uglier than anything she had ever seen, and hated herself. Elphaba of the West. Nessarose of the East.

The chanting stopped, the Grimmerie closed softly. Nessa turned, expecting some sort of report.

"He fell asleep." Elphaba said flatly, eyes full of sadness. What was so sad? If he was asleep, he was alive.

"What about his heart?" Nessa pressed, desperate to know if her wrong had been corrected, even if you can't reverse a spell.

"It's all right." Elphaba said in the same dull tone. "He doesn't need one…anymore." She slipped the Grimmerie into a worn bag- Nessa recognized it as the bag Father had given her for Shiz, as she received shoes.

"I have some unfinished business in the Emerald City." Elphaba said, needing work to take her mind off of the tragedy.

"Wait, Elphaba!"

"Nessa, I have always tried to do my best to help you." Elphaba turned and faced her sister one last time. "And I've done all that can be done here." She climbed to the open window, fishing her broom out from a rosebush under the window.

"Elphaba!" Nessa called after her. "Elphaba!" But she was gone, shot off like a black streak in the sky.

"Where am I?" Boq's voice was shaky, but not weak. Nessa drew herself away from the window and tried to look presentable. "What happened?" Was there a chance he had forgotten? A chance her spell had worked, despite the heart business? There was still a chance…

"Nothing," Nessa tired to sound light, like this sort of thing happened every day. "You just fell asleep, and then…uh…_Aaaaa_!" Boq had stood up with a great screeching of metal on metal, his entire body shining in the late sunlight.

"What is it?" He turned. Nessa could see rivets along his jaw line, keeping his chin fastened to his head. His nose was a funnel spout, but his eyes were just grey, human eyes in a metal body. He was terrifying.

"Boq! I'm sorry this happened to you!" Nessa felt her legs growing weak again, but the glow of her shoes brightened, and her legs stayed steady even as the rest of her body collapsed. Tears sprang to her eyes as she sobbed, "I didn't want this to happen to you!"

Tin eyebrows wrinkled, and he held out a hand to ask her why she was crying, but then he noticed the metal fingertips. He looked at his whole arm, legs, chest, felt his face, finally realizing his transformation. He screamed himself, coarse metal sounding along with the human shriek.

"Elphaba changed you!" Nessa cried. She tried to take a few steps forward, but Boq still backed away and ran, his metal feet clanging on the floor of the mansion. "It was Elphaba! It was ELPHABA!"

**Whew. I think this is a record for me. Time wise, at least. And we have a Tin Man! W00t. And Nessa's still evil. And Elphaba has unfinished business in the Emerald City. I'm curious, so everybody, if you've read it, even if you don't have anything to say in the review, send me one that says 'Hi' or something, just so I know how Pop-u-ler this is.** **Keep reading and writing! -LostOzian**


	23. Wonderful

Elphaba crouched low in the rafters, scanning the great Wizard's hall for guards of any sort. TShe and the Elphs were planning a raid on the Wizard's palace for quite some time, and it was the perfect thing to take Elphaba's mind off of the encounter with her sister. (**Nessa can walk now because Elphaba enchanted the shoes from 'Dear Old Shiz'. They're red now, just so you know.**) There didn't seem to be anybody there, or even the Wizard for that matter. Deeming it safe, she fell from the ceiling, using the broom to slow her descent. Leaning the broom against a wall, she started searching around, looking for the special lever that raised the tapestry and revealed the cage. It had to be somewhere…how would the Wizard have put the Monkeys in the cage to begin with if he couldn't open it?

"I KNEW YOU'D BE BACK." _Though I thought it would have been sooner than later…_ The Wizard's voice boomed throughout the hall, startling Elphaba. She whipped around to see the Wizard twirling her broom like a baton. She winced to see her escape route in the hands of the Wizard, at the mercy of the sharp break over the leg that all people are able to do, with magical powers or not. Twenty-twenty hindsight kicked in. _I shouldn't have set the broom down…I should have made it indestructible…I should have created some invisibility spell so he couldn't have found me… I should stop standing here and do something!_

"Give that back," Elphaba said seriously, hoping the Wizard didn't understand enough of magic to know that she had to pull out the Grimmerie to do anything truly terrible to him.

"No," He said, tossing the broom and catching it again in the other hand. "Not until you hear me out." He honestly wanted to stop fighting with the Elphaba. It just caused a lot of fuss, and although fuss had its uses, something wasn't right anymore. Some sort of growing discontent was forming, even as he and the Captain of the Guard formed plans (well, the Captain formed plans. The Wizard nodded his head and said 'mm-hmm' a lot) on how to fight Elphaba, but she was too smart for their best-laid strategies. It would be so much easier if life just settled back to normal.  
"I don't want anything to do with you," Elphaba turned her back, scanning the new panel of buttons and switches she was facing for the cage's lever.

"Please, Elphaba," The Wizard said. "I never meant to hurt you,"

"Oh! You never _meant_ to hurt me." Elphaba faced her adversary, layering her voice thick with sarcasm. "The same way you never _meant_ to hurt those monkeys, and never _meant_ to lock Animals up in cages!" The Wizard stared at his shoes, fighting the internal battle of whether to stick with his carefully prepared script that would gain him an ally, or just to tell the truth for once and stop fighting ethics. He never was big on ethics, but some things he just knew were bad.

"I know, I did wrong. And I deeply regret it, Elphaba."

"I don't believe you. Now, don't move! I'm setting the monkeys free!" Elphaba declared superiorly. "Don't try to stop me, don't call the guards, and…ah..." She tried to think of another sleazy loophole the Wizard could exploit. The Wizard held up his hands in surrender, still holding on to Elphaba's broom.

"I'm not calling anyone. The truth is I'm glad to see you again. It gets pretty lonely around here…"

"Why in Oz would that be? You have a cage full of _mute_ Monkeys. Don't they keep you company?" Elphaba used her most biting tool, sarcasm, again. The Wizard winced. This girl had spirit, and never gave up the way he used to.

"…and I know you must get lonely too." The Wizard finished as if Elphaba had not spoken.

"You've forgotten the Elph encampment." Elphaba baited with the information that the Wizard could use to destroy the resistance. "Wherever they are, that's where I am. I never get 'lonely' with them around."

"Oh, sure, sure." The Wizard agreed a tad bit too wholeheartedly. "Always working, always planning for the greater good of Oz. Tell me, Elphaba, when was the last time you were able to do anything for yourself? Spend a little time to sit and just think? Do what _you_ want for once?"

Elphaba bit her lip. She _did_ never do anything for herself. "I don't need to. I have everything I want." She declared, lifting her chin slightly in defiance.

"Living out in the wild with nobody to look out for you but yourself. You have to look after everybody. Your Elphs, the Animals you set free, your sister…" The Wizard mentioned casually. Elphaba tensed. How could he know she had seen Nessa? Did he have informants? Did Morrible find out for him? "Wouldn't it be nice if someone else cared about all that, and left you free to do whatever you wanted?" The Wizard clamored to remember the notes he had taken from Glinda's account of her last day with Elphaba. "You'd have all the knowledge of Oz right at your fingertips, and the time to learn it all." Elphaba felt shocked by his knowledge of her personal life right before she left it all behind.

"Help me start again," He held out the broom, which Elphaba snatched back possessively.

"You can't just start again," Elphaba said. "It's physically impossible. I can't just roll back the clocks and pretend the past three years didn't happen! I know that when people sing the praises of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, they sing the praises of a _fraud_!" Elphaba scowled at him, arms folded. "I had thought you were better than that."

"My dear child, Elphaba!" The Wizard tried to calm her down again, honestly feeling struck by what she was saying. She _was _right, but it was painful to admit it. "I never asked for this or planned it in advance! I was merely blown her by the winds of chance. I never saw myself as a Solomon, or Socrates…" Elphaba stared. Who were these people, why did they have funny names, and why were they important?! The Wizard continued, however, not really caring if Elphaba understood his comparison.

"I knew who I was, one of your dime-a-dozen mediocrities." He kicked his foot at nothing, sorry he could never have been anything better at home. Still, nobody at home could be anything better than he was here. "Then, suddenly I'm here, respected, worshipped, even." Elphaba remembered a show Glinda and she had seen before meeting the Wizard, "Wiz-o-mania." A ghost of the chorus played in her head. _Who-oo-ooo! Isn't he wonderful?! Our wonderful Wizard._ "Just because the folks in Oz needed someone to believe in!" He shrugged innocently. "Does it surprise you I got hooked, and all too soon…" He swept his strange top hat off his head and placed it on the top of Elphaba's broom. She scowled and removed the hat roughly, not helping to notice how odd it was. A perfect circle, framed by and even rim, with a solid black stripe along the gray silk. Something was too unnaturally perfect about it.

"What can I say, I got carried away…" The Wizard smiled endearingly, trying to work under the hard exterior to the heart he knew she had. She met his eyes harshly, unforgiving of all that he had done and gotten away with. "And not just by balloons…. Wonderful," The Wizard looked off into the distance, remembering the time when he had landed in Ozma Town, the people there living about fifty years behind his time. He showed them common marvels of Kansas, and they clamored for more, called it magic, called him the Wonderful Wizard. "They called me wonderful. So I said 'Wonderful…'" The Wizard noticed Elphaba looking on disapprovingly. He knew immediately what she would have done; taken back the machines and left immediately for back home or the next land over. "'..._If_ you insist.'" The Wizard finished his quote, remembering that he was once rather afraid of the Ozians' enthusiasm, the strange clothing and customs, ways of speaking. But then they showed him the palace. And the luxury they were willing to give him if he stayed, and showed them how to use the wonderful devices he brought with him as random junk in the bottom of his balloon.

"'I will be wonderful', and they said, 'wonderful'…" The Wizard kept telling his story, trying to help Elphaba see that any man would have done the same. "Believe me, it's hard to resist, 'cause it feels wonderful!" There was something extra in the Wizard's song and dance he hadn't meant to put in there; for some reason, he truly wanted Elphaba to be great, to stand beside him and be happy, ruling all of Oz. He knew that was what she wanted, and it would be something he could easily give her. All she had to do was realize how much she wanted it…

"They think I'm wonderful! Hey, look who's wonderful, this corn-fed hick!" Elphaba took a small step back, a little bit of panic blossoming in her heart. Not only was the Wizard a normal man, but he was a country bumpkin as well, completely untrained on how to run a country! The sooner the Ozians accepted the truth and overthrew him, the better. "Who said it might be keen to build a town of green, and a wonderful road of yellow brick!"

"See? I never had a family of my own since I was always traveling," The Wizard even remembered sneaking out of the palace to roam about Oz, reliving his 'glory days' on the roads of Kansas in this strange new world. "so I guess I just wanted to give the citizens of Oz everything."

"So that makes it okay to lie to them." Elphaba said cynically, rolling her eyes at this man's severe lack of morals.

"If you can call them lies, yes." The Wizard explained, trying to ignore the increasing feeling that he was on shaky ground in her book. "Besides, think of the 'lies' they _wanted_ to hear!"

"Nobody likes finding out that all they believed in was a lie." Elphaba said, leaning against her broom casually, but keeping her expression icy and hard. _I didn't._

"Elphaba, please!" The Wizard said. "Where I come from we believe all _sorts_ of things that aren't true! We call it history." Elphaba raised her eyebrows. History had to be true; the past couldn't have been a lie because it happened, and everybody knew it happened. You can't lie in a textbook, educate the masses with dishonesty.

"A man's called a traitor," He pointed at Elphaba decidedly. She puffed up under the accusation. She was doing good! Those she had saved, those who supported her! "or a liberator," The Wizard continued, well aware of her point of view.

"A rich man's a thief or philanthropist." He gestured to himself, daring her to think that he stole from the Ozians, the very people _willing_ to devote their lives to his comfort.

"Is one a crusader, or ruthless invader? It's all in which label is able to persist!" Elphaba bit her tongue, weighing her arguments against the Wizard's philosophy. He made sense, even if it wasn't what she thought was right. _No. What_ I_ think is right._ She realized what he was trying to do: mentally weaken her senses of right and wrong and win her over. Make her jeopardize the Elphs and Animals; stop her cause for good by tricking her into believing that what he was saying was right. _Stay strong, Elphaba! He can't beat you!_

"There are precious few at ease with moral… 'ambiguities'," The Wizard plowed on, pushing his point to the very end, beyond Elphaba's best reason. "So we act as though they don't exist!" Elphaba turned away from the Wizard, trying to force these new ideas out of her head. _He's lying to me. That's all he ever does with people, lie and manipulate!_ She chanted over and over again in her head, like some spell of her own that would make her immune to persuasion.

"They _call_ me wonderful, so I _am_ wonderful!" The Wizard repeated, hoping Elphaba would understand it was the Ozian's ignorance to his true nature that made him into the great figure he is. "In fact, it's so much who I am, it's part of my name!" He held out his hand to Elphaba, certain that after this long she would take it.

"And with my help, you can be the same…" Elphaba could feel it coming, the one thing the Wizard was sure would crumple her defenses like paper and make her join him. She couldn't do it…she had to resist…

"At long, long last receive your due long overdue…Elphaba…" He took another step, hoping the hesitation didn't mean she'd turn him down. "The most celebrated are the rehabilitated!" Elphaba remembered the vision so long ago, the crowds of people celebrating the green-skinned woman. Was it all supposed to come true? Was this the only chance she would have at glory like that?

Was the price truly too high, or was she just over-exaggerating?

"They'll be such a whoop-dee-do… A celebration throughout Oz, that's all to do with you!" The Wizard smiled heartily, ready for her acceptance of his offer. Dream-baiting always works, but in her case, her dreams weren't really bait. The Wizard couldn't think of someone more deserving of love and attention and the carefree lifestyle he had become so accustomed to. "Wonderful! They'll call you wonderful!"

"It must be wonderful!" Elphaba turned back to him, suddenly all smiles and laughter, grinning broadly as she accepted the Wizard's point of view. _That's what I'm talking about!_ The Wizard couldn't help thinking. Pushing the small question of her sudden change of heart out of his mind, he played up her new happy attitude.

"Trust me, it's fun!" The Wizard agreed, letting out the tension of worry, the fear that she'd still run off and fight against him. Sooner or later, she might get hurt.

"When you are wonderful, it would be wonderful!" They said together, caught up in the pure excitement of the moment, finally able to relax and have things return to the normal, happy life they both had. Except now they'd be working together. "Wonderful, wonderful…"

"One," The Wizard faced Elphaba and started to count off the beat of his favorite dance from Kansas, but noticing the empty eyes coupled with the bright smile. _Why would that be?_ "Two, and…!"

The pair spun off around the hall, dancing merrily at their new success, a future together. The steps came easily to Elphaba, who kept pace with the Wizard in the lively dance, Monkeys apparently forgotten. The Wizard couldn't remember a time when he had been happier, when the whole world had seemed bright and full of possibilities, when life had seemed so... _unlimited_. Life couldn't possibly be better, nothing can go wrong anymore!

"All right," Elphaba said at last as the dance ended. "I'll accept your proposition…" The Wizard smiled warmly. He knew she would, knew that she would do the right thing.

"Wonderful," he said. How best should he explain it to Oz? Captured the Witch, and redeemed her out of his goodness? That would probably be best accepted...

"On one condition." The Wizard was taken aback at first. Was it her place to demand a condition? Well, she was changing her beliefs. That had to come at a price. "You set those Monkeys free."

The Wizard let out a sigh of relief. He had been imagining much worse. Those Monkeys really were useless; slightly grotesque, noisy, expensive to feed, even meagerly, with there being so many of them.

"Done!" The Wizard said, and then pulled one of the torches on the wall. It came forward like a lever, then the cage and tapestry began to rise. _Clever,_ Elphaba couldn't help thinking. _Keep the opening switch far away from the rest of the controls. _A few Monkeys poked their heads out, not really sure what the absence of the cage bars meant.

"Fly!" Elphaba shouted at them. A few scuttled out of the cage, flapping their wings experimentally. "You're free! Fly!" Some of them ascended higher, up into the rafters, landing on the support beams. "You're free! Fly!" One of the Monkeys made it to the skylight Elphaba had flown in. It screamed to the others, and soon they were all flying out the skylight, into the dark Ozian sky, shadows against the stars. Elphaba turned to the Wizard, smiling smugly, when she noticed another Monkey under a blanket. "Fly!" She said to it, and then pulled off the sheet.

"No!" The Wizard said. He had forgotten that _he_ was in the Monkey cage too. It was Dr. Dillamond, his clothing torn and neglected, dirt caked in his hair, eyes wild with fear.

"Dr. Dillamond…" Elphaba stared at her old professor, wondering how this came to happen. The day he was dragged off in class, he was thrown in with the Monkeys? She should have done something back in class, she could have saved him.

"Elphaba…we just couldn't keep letting him speak out..." The Wizard tried to explain; well aware his argument must sound pathetic with the hard truth of Dr. Dillamond sitting in front of her.

"Dr. Dillamond, are you all right?" The Goat shied away, his thin body tensing to being so close to a person. "Don't be afraid. It's me, Elphaba." Elphaba tried to reassure him, but he didn't look at her.

"Ba-a-a-a-a," He said stupidly, gazing around at the outside of the cage in wonder, trying to understand what things meant.

"Doctor, don't you remember me?" Elphaba spoke calmly, using the same voice she did with the mute Animals she rescued from cages.

"Ba-a-a-a-a!" He said again, noticing the Oz head and backing away from it. Elphaba put one arm around her professor's neck, almost whispering in his ear.

"Can't you speak?"

"Ba-a-a-a-a…" Dr. Dillamond tried to pull away from Elphaba, his weak legs trembling with the effort. Elphaba looked back up at the Wizard. _I've lost her again. _He thought as she stood up and faced him, meeting exactly at eye level.

"I had never believed you for a clock-tick," Elphaba said, advancing on the Wizard. She could feel the electricity building up in her body again, but she forced to keep it down. "The people will see the truth, none of this propoganda, and I will fight you until the day I die!" The Wizard retreated behind his Oz head, speaking into the microphone:

"GUARDS! GUARDS!" The main door burst open, heavy boots sending footsteps ringing throughout the halls. Elphaba spun around, broom held high to defend any attack-

And she stopped short.

There were three men, two with spears and the Captain of the Guard, Fiyero.

He had a gun trained on her.

**D'Arvit! By telling this from beginning to end, everybody missed crucial foreshadowing! Elphaba is really the illegitimate child of Frex's wife and a traveling salesman, but Frex didn't know that. Either way, I just love torturing you all, it's so much fun. Next is the rest of the scene I cut off for the sake of making a full chapter out of four lines of singing. Review and it might come quicker. Hopefully. I have -most- of Sunday to work on it, and it should be pretty easy. Maybe use a bit of Monday to flesh it out, I know how much you love character's thoughts, the stuff not easily shown on stage without constant monologues. Keep reading and writing! -LostOzian.**


	24. I'm Not That Girl Reprise

"Halt!" One of the men shouted, pointing his spear at Elphaba, but she wasn't paying attention to him. Fiyero's gun was the immediate danger to her. The Elphs had managed to test her hat against knives and swords, but they had never been able to get hold of a gun. She had no idea if the enchantment could stop a bullet.

Though would Fiyero actually pull the trigger?

"Are you all right, Your Ozness?" He asked the giant head. It continued to glower menacingly at Elphaba's general area. Elphaba's hopes fell. Fiyero probably thinks the Wizard is wonderful. If ordered to, he would shoot. Maybe he didn't think of her as Elphaba anymore…would there be a chance that he could remember Elphaba instead of the Wicked Witch?

"Fiyero…" She said softly, desperately hoping that he wouldn't shoot her. He looked at her closely, barely believing that she would enter the Wizard's throne room, the very place where it was most dangerous for her.

"I don't believe it…" He said, amazed that he had finally found her. She was still at the Lion's jaws, though. His other guards, the Wizard, citizens that would gladly turn her in.

"Oh, Fiyero, thank Oz. I thought you were-" Elphaba started, glad that Fiyero honestly wouldn't shoot her. Fiyero began to panic a little bit. _Not now, Elphaba! Where's that mind of yours I love so much?!_

"Silence, witch!" Fiyero jabbed the gun at the air, trying to convince the other guards that they had nothing to do with each other, no past connections of any sort. Elphaba shrank back. Fiyero _would_ shoot her, but more importantly, the person she loved… didn't love her back.

"Sir, there's a goat on the lam," One of the guards said. _Dr. Dillamond! _Elphaba thought. She made a quick mental note to come back for him.

If she got out alive.

"Never mind all that," Fiyero said impatiently, listing phases of a plan in his head. _Get rid of the other guards. Stop the Wizard. Get Elphaba out…_ "Fetch me some…"

The memory of the engagement party came back. _I hear her soul is so unclean pure water will melt her! _"…some water."

"Water, sir?" One of the guards lowered his spear a bit, confused by the strange request. Elphaba, having not heard the rumors about her, was baffled as well. _Is he thirsty?! Why in Oz would he ask for water at a time like this? _

"You heard me, as much as you can carry." The two other guards exchanged a look, but still went off to fulfill the order of their Captain.

_Phase one completed,_ Fiyero thought as the large doors slammed behind him.

"Fiyero…!" Elphaba tried to get to him, the old Fiyero she had left behind at Shiz.

"I said silence!" He nodded his head toward the Wizard subtly, and then winked one eye. Suddenly, the entire act made sense. Fiyero had to pretend because the Wizard was still here. Keeping the gun trained on her, he worked his way to the other side of the Oz head.

* * *

The Wizard held on to the controls of the head, keeping it aloft in one position. Slumping back on the steps, he replayed what had happened inside his head. There had been obvious signs, things he should have seen that would have avoided all this pain. She hadn't changed her mind; _she_ had lied to _him_, built up his hopes and then sent them crashing down once she achieved what she came to do. _That was what I had done to her._ The Wizard thought, remembering the day that Elphaba had first seen him, how she had believed that he could make everything better, but abandoned it all once she realized he had not power. _So this is what it feels like to have your dreams broken. _All of a sudden, he was grabbed from behind and dragged into the front hall, away from the cover of the Oz head.

"No! NO!" He shouted, not sure who had grabbed him. She didn't look strong enough to be able to pull him like this. He twisted in the firm hold and saw the Captain of the Guard, completely ignoring the witch he was supposed to capture. _Hold on a second! _The Wizard thought as he was thrown down in front of the Oz head.

* * *

"Don't make a sound, your Ozness, unless you want all your guests to know the truth about the _Wonderful _Wizard of Oz." Fiyero said casually, training the gun on the Wizard. Staring down the barrel of a gun, the Wizard complied. _He's supposed to be in my side! What's he doing?!_ Fiyero turned to Elphaba, keeping the gun raised. "Elphaba, I'll find Doctor Dillamond later, now get out of here!" Elphaba knew he was right; it was too dangerous for her to stay here, but she wanted to stay so badly. Old dreams from Shiz were coming back to her; days spent staring out the window at the dorm's gardens, trying to find an easy way to break it to the then-Galinda that she loved Fiyero.

"Fiyero, you frightened me. I thought…" Elphaba didn't know what was making her say this, why she was still here when she should go. "…I though you might have changed." Fiyero lowered the gun a bit, thinking of how he had been before he met Elphaba. Self-centered, stupid, shallow Fiyero, the prince who loved to have fun. Just by knowing her, he discovered that there was more to life than parties and fun; what it was like to be in love with someone. She didn't know how he had spent the last years at Shiz studying, working to achieve the intelligence he knew she valued so highly.

"I had changed…" He said thoughtfully. He had changed so much from the party-boy he used to be. He grew up. He used his brain. Actually seeing Elphaba again reminded him why he had gone on, put up with Glinda, sabotaged strategies…

…Why he wanted to be with her.

"Fiyero, what's going on?" One of the side doors to the throne room opened, and Glinda came out. Elphaba noticed how she seemed exactly like the way she did at Shiz. Bubbly, cheery, attention-adoring. She was incredibly dressed up, shimmering pale-blue ball gown with amazing amounts of sequins, a tiara completing the image of royalty. For a brief instant, Elphaba wondered if she could have been the one in magnificent gowns and jewelry if she had stayed with the Wizard. Yes, she would have, but the price _was_ too high. She couldn't go against everything she believed in for superficial adoration.

"Elphie?" Glinda squealed on seeing her friend. Rushing up, she took her old friend in a great big hug. _I had forgotten Glinda did hugs like this…_Elphaba thought, but she hugged Glinda back, happy to see her best friend again. "Oh, thank Oz you're alive!" She broke the hug and took a step back to examine her friend. The hair was knotted from flying at high speeds, traces of scratches could be seen on her face from skirmishes while freeing Animals, but it was still Elphie. "You shouldn't have come. If anyone discoverates you…"

"Glinda, you'd better go." Fiyero said stiffly. Glinda really noticed him for the first time. If he was here, the Gale Force would have been here. Why wasn't Elphie in prison? Or would Fiyero lock her up himself?! She saw the gun, still aimed in the general direction of the Wizard, lying cowardly against the throne.

"Fiyero, what are you-" Glinda tried to make sense of the situation. Fiyero was threatening the Wizard…to make sure Elphaba went free? Yes, he would probably not want to have her punished, but this was the whole point of his job, to find and capture Elphaba.

"Please, just go back to the ball!" Fiyero said, realigning his gun so it was pointed directly at the Wizard. Elphaba heard the edge in his voice, the tired annoyance that she had heard once before…Boq. He used the same tone speaking about Nessa as Fiyero did talking to Glinda. _Oh, sweet Oz…_Elphaba was hit by the magnitude of what she had done, and could have fixed.

"Your Ozness, he means no disrespectation." Glinda turned to the Wizard and bowed slightly. "Please understand! You see, we all went to school together..." Glinda tried to explain. Fiyero looked back up at Elphaba. She was still standing there, hesitating. She had to leave; it was for her own good! The other guards may be coming back soon with the water, the fool's errand Fiyero sent them on.

"Elphaba!" Fiyero said, pointing the gun quickly at the broom in her hand. _Just go._ He felt a kind of pain, when you have to leave something you love behind. She has to leave him, for her own safety. The thought of all the hardships she had faced at the hands of the Gale Force, his Gale Force, was too hard to bear. He needed to know that she would be safe; he needed to escape all the lies and deception.

There was only one way to do that.

"Fiyero, have you misplaced your mind?" Glinda glanced from the gun to the Wizard to her fiancé. He put the gun down, but took a step towards Elphaba. "What are you doing!?"

"I'm going with her." Fiyero said, staring into Elphaba's eyes the whole time, trying to ask her if she would let him go. He fully understood that if she didn't want him, he had no right to leave, but he got the sense that he would die if he didn't. _Please let me go!_

"What?" Glinda looked from one to the other, trying not to admit to what was going on. "What are you saying? You mean all this time... the two of you..." Glinda was close to tears, her voice cracking. "Elphie, you promised! You promised you wouldn't steal him!" Glinda pointed accusingly at Elphaba, betrayed by her best friend.  
"Glinda, I'm sorry!" Elphaba pleaded, hoping she would understand. "I didn't want it then, but things have changed! I changed!" Glinda glared at her now ex-friend, still appalled that she would go back on her word like this. She should have said something! All the nights that she would go to bed silently at Shiz, never saying anything. She could have at least told her how she felt before something like _this_ happened!

"Elphaba…Let's go…" Fiyero said nervously, hoping to leave before Glinda grew too angry. He didn't like leaving her this way, but he didn't love her. There was no other way to put it. Elphaba held out the broom, Fiyero climbing on to it awkwardly. Elphaba joined with more grace.

"Fine! GO!" Glinda screeched, the anger not doing her beautiful face any good. Elphaba kicked the broom off into the air, Fiyero almost falling off at the sudden lurch. He had to grab on to Elphaba's waist to keep himself on, the final insult in Glinda's mind. "You deserve each other!" Tears fell openly now, Glinda not caring who saw her. Her perfect life had just shattered into more pieces than she could count, untrue lies about her friends forming in her mind.

The Wizard had sat up and moved a little bit, taking pity on Glinda. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a little bottle full of green liquid.

"Here," He held out the bottle to Glinda. "Have a swig of this. It dulls the pain." Barely sparing the bottle a glance, Glinda wiped her tears away.

"No, thank you." She said curtly, something telling her that she didn't deserve to have the pain go away. She wasn't good enough for Fiyero. She wasn't talented, she wasn't that intelligent, and he didn't think she was beautiful. All that was left of her in her mind was a hollow doll that deserved to be punished for all of her shortcomings.

The bang of a slammed door announced that someone else had entered the room.

"Oh! Is it true?! Your betrothed has brought the Witch into custody?!" Madame Morrible made assumptions from what little she knew: The Captain had left the ball and hadn't yet come back, yet was not in the throne room where the Witch had been sighted. Fresh tears came to Glinda as Madame Morrible called Fiyero 'her betrothed'.

"Our new Captain of the Guard had other plans…" The Wizard said ruefully, rubbing his shoulder where Fiyero had grabbed him. It still hurt. Madame Morrible looked at him disbelievingly.

"You mean she _hasn't _been captured?" Madame Morrible said. It seems that their bait wore thin for Fiyero; suddenly he didn't want all he ever wanted.

"Quite the contrary. And considering how well she's eluded us all this time..." The Wizard sat up straighter, trying to think of how best to get her to show herself again. The Monkeys were gone now, and she had no reason to come back to the Emerald City.

"Strategies! Humph!" Madame Morrible said disapprovingly. "She needs to be flushed out, not hunted. Forced to show herself."

"Her sister." Glinda said quietly, her anger and misery condensed into one truly wicked thought: ruin Elphaba.

"What? What did she say?" Madame Morrible seemed to notice Glinda for the first time. The fact that their precious little figurehead had a thought seemed impossible.

"Use her sister…" Glinda stared at the floor; using all the faults she had ever seen in Elphaba to convince herself that she deserved this, imprisonment from the Wizard, public ridicule, death. "Spread a rumor. Make her think her sister is in trouble and she will fly to her side... and you'll have her."

_You're betraying her. _Glinda's conscience cut in rudely.

_Eye for an eye! _She_ betrayed _meGlinda responded violently.

"Exactly so," The Wizard said. Glinda made sense; families cared strongly about each other in Oz; Elphaba would definitely help, what's her name, Bessie? If she was in trouble. Glinda collected herself and stood slowly, the long skirts crumpled from their time on the floor.

"Now, if your Ozness will excuse me I have a slight headache, I think I'll lie down." Glinda left the hall calmly, still crying the whole time. The door shut quietly behind her. Madame Morrible's lip curled at the pathetic sight. Heartbreak is over exaggerated in the young.

"Yes, well...a rumor won't do it. Elphaba's too smart for that." Madame Morrible said coldly, staring at the door Glinda just left through.

"Far too smart." The Wizard said. She had used his own ploys against him, avoided capture all these years. They didn't even have an Elph to show for all their hard work, she organized them so well.  
"Perhaps…" Madame Morrible looked out through the open skylight to the darkened cover of night. "A change in the weather..."

* * *

"Elphaba!" Salamaris and a few others were waiting outside the Emerald City. He immediately noticed her passenger, the Gale Force uniform familiar, even through the heavy decoration. "Who's he?" He drew a sword and pointed it at him.

"Fiyero," Elphaba said, never dismounting. "He's an old friend." Fiyero smiled slightly at the description. "The Monkeys are free, I don't know if they'll come to us." Salamaris nodded, still slightly wary of the Gale Force officer. Then again, Elphaba still had her hat.

"I'll meet you back at the camp later. I need to spend a little time catching up with Fiyero." Salamaris raised an eyebrow. "And…the…way the Gale Force works…" she added hastily. Salamaris nodded. Elphaba was a young woman, after all. Can't deny her everything.

* * *

"Lady Glinda!" Glinda turned as a noblewoman chased her in the hall. "You've been gone from the engagement ball for quite some time, whatever is the matter?"

"There is no engagement anymore," Glinda said, trying to hold back the fresh wave of tears about to come. Not in front of the public.

"Why, whatever do you mean, Lady Glinda?" The woman tittered and smiled falsely. She was sucking up, big time. Glinda didn't need it.

"The Captain of the Guard just flew off with the Witch!" Glinda raised her voice at the woman. "So there is no engagement!" The fake smile wavered as the noblewoman realized what Glinda had just said.

"Oh…I'm terribly sorry to hear that, Lady Glinda!" The noblewoman turned and ran back into the ball room, eager to tell this thrillifying story to her friends. Glinda was slightly pleased: It meant she didn't have to call off the ball herself. Walking down the hall a little further, Glinda passed a window, looking out over the Emerald City skyline. Elphaba was out there somewhere, with her Fiyero. _But he's not mine anymore._ Glinda thought sadly. _He loves her so. I'm not that girl…_

**I updated quickly! Yay! Relatively so, at least. I'm getting better about using the line things. It's pretty confusifying when I switch between scenes and POV's without letting you people know. I'm going to replace the Intermission chapter soon with one that has the lines, so it's easier to read. Glinda's in pain. Poor old blonde. Review and tell me if you liked it! As Long As You're Mine is coming soon...ish...So keep reading and writing! -LostOzain**


	25. As Long As You're Mine

The dark forest swirled around, low-hanging vines and branches trying to block the path of a simple broom and two riders. Stars could barely be seen as the overhanging canopy blocked out the sky, sheltering the forbidden couple from the elements. They were silent, reading the other's thoughts and feelings as their own. They embraced, and sank to the ground, not trusting their legs to hold them up in the dizzying presence of their love.

(**Yes, mushy mushy mushy. But this is _the_ love song. So deal with it.**)

"Kiss me too fiercely…" Elphaba said at last, lost in Fiyero's eyes. Comfort she had long since forgotten existed filled her, heat from her contact with his body keeping out the cold of darkness. "Hold me to tight; I need help believing you're with me tonight." Years ago, she had written off Fiyero as taken, so lost in the happy relationship she had given Glinda. But the happiness had been a lie, and he had truly wanted to be with her, make her happy. That had all changed, and now their deepest desires were coming true, despite impossible odds. "My wildest dreamings could not foresee lying beside you," He lifted his hand to caress her jade cheek, the warmth spreading across her face where his fingers had touched. "With you wanting me…and just for this moment." She stared deeper into his eyes, his eyes that she had loved ever since they showed intelligence. "As long as you're mine, I've lost all resistance, and crossed some boarder line…" She smiled internally, laughing at the irony that the notorious resistance fighter had surrendered herself to someone. "And, if it turns out it's over too fast I'll make every last moment last…As long as you're mine."

They kissed, the incredible chemistry flaming from the two bodies huddled together in the woods, wishing that nobody would find them and they could stay like this forever with nobody but them in all of Oz, lost in their own little piece of heaven. They finally pulled away, the reality of their relationship settling in. They were together, finally together forever.

"As I was brainless, as I was wise, I've always seen you through different eyes," Fiyero studied her face, the face he had longed to be able to wake up in the morning, roll over, and see smiling at him. He had gone so long without her, putting up with Glinda and her obsession with perfection, and he wasn't about to let her go; not now, not ever. "First day I saw you, I was under your spell," The day came back, clearer than crystal, his superficial mind attracted to her looks, and then his newfound intelligence fell in love with her personality. "And now I've been feeling something I've found!"

"Every moment, as long as you're mine, I wake up my body," The pair kneeled, leaning into each other, holding tight to the best and literally illegal indulgence they could ever have. "And make up for lost time!"

"Say there's no future for us as a pair…" Fiyero couldn't forget who everyone though she was; an evil usurper, determined to destroy the wonderful Oz the Wizard had built. He was now in the same boat with her, he could imagine the crazy rumors flitting about the Emerald City as he sat here in the forest. An insane warmonger who thought that her path was the path to true control over Oz, even though he had risen as high as humanly possible in the Wizard's court.

"And though I may know, I don't care! Just for this moment," They were lost again, curse all of Oz, curse the Wizard and his search parties, none of that mattered now that they had each other. "As long as you're mine, come be how you want to, and see how bright we shine!" Finally, defenses were useless, there was no need to pretend or act like everything's fine, they were just allowed to be themselves, two as one. "Borrow the moonlight until it is through…and know I'll be here holding you…" They were inches apart, less than inches, the gap closed by their eternal love, forged stronger by years of absence. "As long as you're mine!" They kissed again, reveling in pure undiluted joy and bliss. Thoughts of anything else existing were driven away as the night engulfed them both. Elphaba broke away at last, lack of oxygen and pleasure clouding her mind.

"What is it?" He asked softly, nuzzling her ear affectionately.

"It's just…for the first time, I feel…" She smiled suggestively. "Wicked."

Fiyero raised his eyebrows.

And the hours melted away like icicles in spring.

* * *

They lay on the ground, panting, covered only by Elphaba's cloak and each other. The silence surrounded them, comforting them in a secure cocoon.

"Fiyero…" Elphaba said after a long time, a warm glow filling her.

"What?" He looked down at her, her black hair fanning out on the ground, cascading past her shoulders.

"You honestly think I'm beautiful?" She closed her eyes, the reassuring rhythmic beat of Fiyero's heart matching her own.

"In more ways than one, Elphaba." She smiled and snuggled in closer, happy that someone loved her and she loved him back. "Someday, life will be perfect. The Wizard will be gone, you and Glinda will be friends again…" It's not like he hated Glinda. He was more overdosed on her impossibly perfect face, her high-pitched voice, the impractical gowns and dresses that occupied most of their suite.

"Shh!" She said suddenly, sitting up. The wind rustled the trees, branches swaying like menacing arms over the two huddled in the forest. Though Elphaba didn't just hear the wind; there was someone, screaming. Someone terrified of something. "Listen! Do you hear that?" The wind blew again, a different kind of scream. Agony. "It sounds like someone in pain…"

"It's just the wind." Fiyero said softly, smoothing her hair, trying to calm her. She was too tense most of the time, she never had a chance to relax.

The wind blew again, this time Elphaba could make out a voice, one she had grown up with. It seemed to call her name; weakly, but it was her name! Nessa.

"My sister's in danger." Elphaba untangled herself from her cape, searching around for her possessions. Nessa needed her.

"What?" Fiyero sat up, lost in trying to comprehend how she just _knew _things like that. "How do you know?"

Elphaba fixed her hat on her head, smoothing back her black hair behind her ears. The faster she got to Nessa the better.

"I don't know, I just-" Elphaba stopped short. Panic flooded her, she was in a house. Her vision was blurry, though, and she still knew she was on the ground. How was this possible? In the vision she moved to look out a window. There was a dizzying drop, the ground swirling below as the house flew by, carried by something. Elphaba could feel the magic in the old house, moving it through the air. Suddenly she seemed to be outside the house, below it. It was falling now, growing in size. Terror froze her in her tracks.

Fiyero joined her standing, trying to see what had captured her attention like that.

"Elphaba! What's wrong? What is it?"

"This! Don't you see it?" Elphaba pointed at the house in the sky. How could he not see it?! It's right there!

"What do you mean? What do you see?" Fiyero stepped in front of Elphaba, but she looked right through him, eyes staring off into the distance at whatever it was that only she could see.

"It doesn't make any sense! It's a house, but it's…" Already it was fading from her sight, the falling house being replaced by the ancient trees of the forest. "It's flying through the sky!" Her eyes cleared, determination returning to her. "I have to go to Nessa."

"I'll come with you!" Fiyero said immediately, no thought in his mind but to watch over Elphaba, keep her safe wherever her fugitive life led her.

"No! Go to the Elphs. They're in the south Vinkus; if you don't find Salamaris tell the first living thing you see Aba sent you." He started to protest, not willing to leave Elphaba after he had just found her, but she stopped him. "It's too dangerous!"

"Elphaba, listen to me! My family has a castle in Kiamo Ko." _Northern Vinkus._ Elphaba noticed, but didn't pay much attention to that. "Nobody lives there but the sentries who watch over it. We've never lived there."

"Where do _you_ live?" Elphaba asked.

"In the other castle," he waved his hand as if 'other' meant lesser. Elphaba nodded. Of _course_ the royalty in the Vinkus would have two castles. They ran the place. "It's the perfect hiding place; tunnels, secret passageways. The Elphs would be safe there." He took her hand, sorrowful that she would have to leave. "You'll be safe there."

"We will see each other again, won't we?" Elphaba said finally, getting the intense feeling that she didn't want to leave; that she could just roll over in bed and not have to get up and face a chilly morning of gloom and pain. Fiyero squeezed her hand tighter.

"Elphaba," He said forcefully, meeting her eyes the whole time. "We are going to be together always." He pointed up into the roof of leaves and still-growing wood. "You can see houses flying through the sky. Can't you see that?"

However impossible it seemed, she knew he was right. He would brave all the dangers of Oz to be able to keep that promise, and in the same instant Elphaba knew that she would do the same. Insurmountable odds worked against them, but they would find a way to make it through, no matter how desperate, to be together. They kissed one last time, both trying not to think of it truly as a goodbye kiss. Elphaba gathered up her broom and flew off through the undergrowth. Fiyero watched her go, new resolve shaping his thoughts. He would send a message to these Elphs and tell them Kiamo Ko was open to then, but he was going with her. From what he remembered of Nessa, she was a strong girl with people willing to attend to her, and she had to be in serious danger for Elphaba to fly off like that.

Running on foot, he trailed after the broom's path.

**Update, update, update! That's all you people ever want me to do: ) That was the smarmy love song, complementary of yours truly, the Lost. So it was smarmy, yes, but there's important information buried in it! KIAMO KO ROCKS MY WORLD!!! The next chapter could take a little while because there's the scene before it, which needs to be done justice, and everything else that happens. Review if you liked it. Review if you didn't. Review if you read the other chapters yet are not bothered to review. I'm checking my settings so that it'll accept anonymous reviews.**

**No clue what I'm doing on the anonymous review accept-y thing.**

**But review, and keep reading and writing! -LostOzian**


	26. No Good Deed

"That's right! You just take that one road the whole time!" Glinda called after the little girl in the blue-and-white dress and her little dog as they were escorted by Munchkins. They would at least see her off to the edge of Munchkin Square. _Oh, I hope they don't get lost,_ Glinda thought as the small girl towering over the Munchkins finally faded off into the distance. _I am so bad at giving directions. _She tried to remember if there were any forks in the Yellow Brick Road that would confuse the poor girl, so far from home. Kansas…Heh. Funny name for a home. Seeing that everybody had either left or tried to follow the girl further down the road, Glinda turned to the house. It landed askew, a wonder that the girl had still managed to get out the door. Still, Glinda couldn't help but feel sorry for the victim of the accident. Nessarose, truly a good girl when Glinda knew her. Sadly, Bick didn't love her, so she kind of went insane. She didn't know all of the details, but it's always a tragedy when a friend dies. Gathering a bunch of wildflowers, she knelt beside the house, placing the flowers in front of her as an offering to the dead.

"Oh, Nessa…" Glinda said softly. This _was_ truly terrible. Then again, there hadn't been much Glinda could have done about it. Her glittering wand was only good for a few simple spells: her bubble, clearing clouds away, flowers bloom, and little cheer-up spells, but she couldn't have just made the cyclone go away. Only Madame Morrible could have done that…

"What a touching display of _grief_." Glinda recognized the biting tone instantly. She should have known that _she_ would stick around after that poor girl was gone. Elphaba glared at Glinda, barely believing her own eyes. The very person who had been leading the Munchkins in that _annoying_ 'the Witch is dead' song had the nerve to turn around and mourn for her! Glinda got up, leaving what she was doing as if she had just finished.

"I don't think we have anything further to say to one another." Glinda didn't even glance up at Elphaba; she deserved everything she had coming to her. The shame, the pain, the family death…well, she was sorry Nessa died, but not that Elphaba had to put up with the loss.

"I wanted something to remember her by!" Elphaba said, her anger rising as the incident with the girl replayed in her mind. Elphaba had screamed, shouted, almost threw a very Glinda-hissy fit, but Glinda merely laughed at everything she said, even had the nerve to give Nessa's ruby slippers to the girl that killed her! "All that was left were those shoes, and not that wretched little farm girl has walked off with them!" Elphaba pointed down the road, wishing every misfortune that could possibly be considered an accident on her sister's murderess. _May she break her ankle skipping…may that little dog run away…may some straw-for-brains give her wrong directions…_ Shaking herself of the curses, she turned her attention back to Glinda. "So I'd appreciate some time, _alone_," Elphaba jerked her head for Glinda to go away. "To say goodbye to my sister." Glinda took a few steps back, sweeping her arms by in a 'be-my-guest' way. Elphaba knelt down beside the house, noticing that Glinda had dandelions in her makeshift bouquet. Nessa had loved dandelions as a little girl; their thick stems were easy to make into flower crowns. Also, sitting on a hillside weaving flower crowns didn't use your legs.

"Nessa, I'm so, so sorry…" Elphaba let her tears fall openly now, the tears she couldn't cry in Munchkin Square, in front of her sister's killer. Something weakened in Glinda. She had only seen Elphaba truly cry once before, and that was when someone had thought it would be funny to burn her final draft for an essay two hours before it was due. Did she really deserve this? Glinda couldn't imagine what it was like, knowing that you would never see a member of her family again, to wake up one morning and find them dead, to not be able to force retribution on the killer. _Glinda, you're being petty._ A long-ignored conscience said. _Things weren't working; he was going to leave eventually. And hasn't Elphie suffered enough? _She knelt beside Elphaba, folds of ice blue fabric meeting with dark blacks as the heavy skirts swept out behind their grieving owners.

"Elphie... you mustn't blame yourself. It's dreadful, it is, to have a house fall on you," She waved a hand at the farmhouse. A beat-up shutter fell off a window unceremoniously and landed with a dull thunk. "But accidents will happen." Elphaba looked up at the house, anger building up in her veins.

"You call this…" She examined the house again, the ugly, falling-apart farmhouse. How many houses fly, for Oz sake?! "…an _accident_?!"

"Yes!" Glinda insisted, but then remembered the feeling she had when she first told the Wizard and Madame Morrible that Nessa could be used to force Elphaba out. "Well, maybe not an accident…"

"Well?" Elphaba stood up, looming ominously over the petite blonde, even smaller while sitting. "What do you call it?!"

"A-a regime change!" Glinda blurted out, threatened by the overbearing figure of Elphaba. She had never been tough-stuff interrogated before. "Caused…by a bizarre…and unexpected twister…of fate!" Elphaba couldn't help but roll her eyes. Glinda was well suited to her position; she was stupid enough.

"You think cyclones just appear out of the blue?" She insisted, pushing the point of her sister's foul and most unnatural murder (**Hamlet! I love you, William!**).

"I don't know…I never really-" _Thought about it._ Glinda cowered, never feeling this scared by Elphaba before. All of the pity she had once felt for her friend moments before was ebbing away.

"Of course you never! You're too busy telling everyone how wonderful everything is!" Elphaba finally backed up enough for Glinda to stand.

"I'm a public figure now!" Glinda extended her neck elegantly, trying to convey the image of the beautiful public figure every single magazine said she was. "People expect me to-"

"Lie?!" Elphaba accused. Glinda knew the truth; she had the power, why wasn't she _telling_ the truth?!

"Be encouraging!" Glinda said in response. It was hard to stay here and be quiet, but she had to! She couldn't do what Elphaba could, they were different people! Just because Glinda didn't go with her that day in the City didn't mean that everything she did was wrong! "And what exactly have you been doing, besides riding around on that filthy old thing?" She pointed her silver-steel wand at Elphaba's broom disgustedly. Elphaba put a finger to her chin in mock thought.

"You mean besides helping the greater good of Oz?" Elphaba said sarcastically, then added in a drawling tone, "and you _must _remember, we can't all come and go by _bubble_!" Glinda stiffened. She liked her bubbles! They were adorable! Elphaba continued mercilessly. "Whose invention was that, the Wizard's? Of course, even if it wasn't, I'm sure he'd still take credit for it…"

"Yes, well, a lot of _us_ are taking things that don't belong to us," Glinda stared at the ground, the lost sympathy for her former friend being replaced with the all-too-familiar jealous anger. "Aren't we?" Elphaba immediately knew who she was talking about.

"Now, wait just a clock-tick," Elphaba chose her words carefully, defensive of her newfound, or would it be new-renewed?- relationship with Fiyero. She turned to Glinda and advanced slowly."I'm sorry this doesn't fit into your perfect life, but he didn't want you. He never loved you. He loves me-"

She was suddenly staring to the side, her cheek smarting slightly. Elphaba raised her hand to the sore spot tentatively. _Glinda just slapped me…_ She thought, barely believing that Glinda thought it was okay to slap people like this. She laughed; not her usual chuckle, but a great cackle, spanning octaves haphazardly. She turned back to Glinda, who was rubbing her hand with the force of the slap.

"Feel better now?" Elphaba said sweetly. Glinda considered the question for a minute. It did feel better to actually inflict some kind of harm to Elphaba rather than the green throw pillows from the hall (Glinda had received many a strange look from the maids when they found the pillows ripped open on the floor, the green fabric shredded and feathers all over the place). It eased the suffering; forgiveness might not be entirely out of the question.

"Yes, I do." Glinda said simply, the rest of the scene playing out in her mind. Elphaba would accept that Glinda had been really ticked when she slapped her, they would put it behind them, and go their separate ways, sure that the other had made the right decision in the tower. Well, Elphaba hadn't exactly been _right._ Righteous, maybe...

"Good." Elphaba pulled back her arm and topped Glinda's slap spectacularly. The other girl spun once with the force of the slap. "So do I!"

Glinda raised her wand, listing off her advantages as Elphaba copied the stance with her broom. _She's stronger, more magically talented, and taller than me. I'm prettier, more well bred, and honored._ She stared into the dark eyes, absolutely sure that they would hurt her if given the chance. _I'm gonna get my tush kicked._ In desperation to look like she knew what she was doing, she spun her wand in a circle. Throwing her broom aside, Elphaba charged at the blonde, wand or no. Glinda dropped her best defense in surprise, trying her best to block Elphaba's attacks with her arms, but was no match for a person who had spent the last three years watching several backs at once, including her own. Glinda grabbed the hat, Elphaba clawed at skin leaving red welts down her arms. Glinda finally managed to get Elphaba in a headlock, Elphaba snatching at everything she could reach, hoping to grab the necklace Glinda so conveniently wore around her scrawny little neck….

"Halt! In the name of the Wizard!" Five Gale Force guards surrounded the two, three restraining Elphaba while one pulled Glinda away with his left arm. Immediately, Elphaba noticed her hat was in Glinda's hands, and that she was at the mercy of the Gale Force's weapons.

"Stop! Let me go!" She shouted, hoping to distract the guards enough that the would let her go.

"Let me go, I almost had her!" Glinda added, screeching. If they would just let herat her again, by Oz, they wouldn't have enough of a witch left to cart off to prison….

"Sorry it took us so long to get here, Miss." The final guard, clearly the head of the squad, dusted off his hands as if he had pulled the two apart. Elphaba, still having a scrap of rational thought with her, understood their plan.

"I can't believe you would sink this low!" She struggled against the three, each trying their hardest to hold her back. Glinda paled, realizing that those three guards were the only things preventing her from being beaten into a pulp on the ground. "To use my sister's death as a trap to capture me!"

"I never meant for this to happen, Elphie!" Glinda started crying, the reality that what she had done was the wickedest thing a person could ever do to a friend.

"Let the green girl go!" Seven heads turned to the newcomer; a man in a Gale Force Captain's uniform that was beginning to show the first signs of tear. He pointed a shabby-looking rifle at nobody in particular; hoping that everybody thought it was pointed at them.

"Fiyero, how in Oz-" Glinda began.

"I said let her go!" Fiyero glanced at Glinda, getting an idea. "Or explain to all Oz how the Wizard's guards watched while Glinda the Good was slain." He pointed the rifle specifically at Glinda, the guards making a move, but unable to do anything for fear he would pull the trigger.

"Fiyero…" Glinda stared at the gun's threatening bore. He wouldn't kill her! They had been friends, dating, almost married! _But he left with Elphaba. _Glinda tried to push away the frightening thought that Fiyero would shoot her if it meant Elphaba could go free. Elphaba winced, remembering the questions running through her mind when Fiyero had pointed the gun at her in the Wizard's throne room.

"I said, let her go!" Fiyero said commandingly, as if he still had power over the Gale Force. The guards loosened their hold on Elphaba, and didn't try to keep her back when Elphaba pulled away. Fiyero kicked her broom to her.

"Elphaba, go now." He glanced up quickly; trying to pack all the love he had and promises that he would still find a way to be with her into one longing look.

"No. Not without you." Elphaba stayed firmly on the ground, her broom staying on the ground, not making a move to pick it up.

"Fiyero, please." _Point the gun away. Don't be stupid. Come back to me! _Glinda tried to wish her way out of this repulsively difficult situation, hoping that it would all go away and the next morning she could wake up like it had never happened.  
"Hush!" He pointed at Glinda with one finger, still keeping it close to support the gun. "Now!" He switched the finger to Elphaba. "Go!" He pointed away. Elphaba tried to think of ways to save him. A fight, a distraction…

…a spell.

"Do it!" Glinda thought she was hesitating because she wanted to stay and threw the hat at her. Elphaba took it, kicked her broom into the air with one foot, and flew off. Speed was of the essence; the sooner she got to Kiamo Ko the better for all involved.

Fiyero watched her go, for one instant forgetting the guards and Glinda. A movement turned him back, reminding him that if he kept his gun pointed at Glinda, they couldn't harm him. They stopped, but it was too late. Four of them were positioned around him, weapons raised, and the fifth was ready to step in front of Glinda if he pulled the trigger. It was hopeless.

But at least Elphaba will be alive… he set down the gun, accepting his defeat. Instantly the guards were on top of him, tactfully taking his arms and keeping a blade of some sort pointed at his neck as they had been trained.

"What are you doing? Stop it!" Glinda cried. The guards froze, still restraining Fiyero. She surveyed the faces, scorn at their eagerness to find someone to kill. "In the name of goodness, stop! Don't you see? He wasn't going to harm me, he just…" She looked down at Fiyero, his expression hard. She understood it immediately, the look she sometimes caught him with. _I'd have done it, Glinda._ She read from his face. "he just…" _He never loved you. He loves me._ Elphaba was right. They deserved each other. "He loves her." She said quietly.

"Glinda, I'm sorry." Fiyero said simply. _I never meant to cause you pain, but I didn't love you either. Pick your poison. _The lead guard locked his jaw. You can't grant one person amnesty because he loves someone. At a certain point, he had to be punished.

"Talk him up to that field over there!" The guard barked, men obeying orders mindlessly. They strung one of their spear shafts through his shirt, leaving him powerless to move. "Put him on one of those poles until he tells us where the Witch went!"

"No! Don't hurt him!" Glinda tried to go after the guards, but one of the guards kept her back. "Please, don't hurt him! FIYERO!!!" She screamed after the little party, Fiyero's limp, submissive form silhouetted against the dying sun.

* * *

"FIYERO!" Elphaba screamed, looking out a thin, siege-designed window. Where was he?! Was he all right?! She wouldn't know until she did something.

"Elphaba?" Salamaris knocked on the door. There were about fifty Monkeys with wings that couldn't speak, and they needed to know where to put them.

"Not now!...Spells!" She shouted at him, fanning through the Grimmerie franticly. A tree, a flower, an eye, a dagger. None of those were right! She needed something to help Fiyero! Finally, she found a human figure. Swords lay at his feet, his arms spread wide as if expecting to be struck. Some sort of immortality spell, Elphaba hoped desperately as she began chanting.

"Elekah nahmem nahmen atum atum elekah nahmen," The words were harsher, unlike the spells Elphaba had cast before, but she knew she was pronouncing them right. Either way, she couldn't just start over if she had said it wrong; this was Fiyero's life she was dealing with, and she couldn't waste a second. "Elekah nahmem nahmen atum atum elekah nahmen…" This was the right spell…right? Worry that the effect wouldn't save Fiyero, she added in a little prayer in English.

"Let his flesh not be torn, let his blood leave no stain, though they beat him, let him feel no pain..." Elphaba's imagination was getting away with her, dreaming up new tortures the Gale Force might inflict upon Fiyero as her common sense trailed in its wake and added it into the impromptu spell-booster. "Let his bones never break and however they try to destroy him, let him never die!" He can't die! She wasn't sure if she could continue to live if he died. "_Let him _never_ die_!" She looked back to the Grimmerie; the spell she was casting needed to be finished.

"Elekah nahmem nahmen atum atum elekah nahmen…" The words started to blur on the page, the fear and adrenaline she had relied upon to get here turning into a poison in her mind. "Elekah nahmem nahmen atum atum elekah…." She couldn't read the next word. "Elekah?" Was it different? Did it repeat again? Slamming the arcane book shut in frustration, she left it on the podium, turning away while lost in thoughts. She wasn't even sure if she had interpreted the picture right; Fiyero would probably have been stabbed by conjured swords, and it would be her fault. That's if the spell had done something.

_This_ _was my attempt at saving another's life, and it didn't work_. Elphaba's mind was starting to go into mourning, the dulling pain of Nessa's death made fresh by this new tragedy. All the good that she did didn't matter in the end; this was the punishment the truth brings. The only thing that can be relied upon is that doing what's right hurts more than it's worth. The Wizard lived his comfy life in the Emerald City, never having to honestly work, and look where he is, worshipped by all. And she, Elphaba, was sitting in a deserted castle with a handful of ragamuffin supporters and dumb ex-Animals. She couldn't do it, and this was probably where all the truth-seekers were headed: eternal scorn and hate, everything working against them.

She sank to the floor, black skirts swirling around, causing displacement of dust. By the time it settled, Elphaba was crying openly now. She had hurt so many. She remembered faces of terror as she crossed the sky, children crying as their fathers tried to fend her off with prayers to the Wizard, and for what? The life of an Animal or two? She wasn't able to save Dr. Dillamond, or Nessa, and now Fiyero's death proved her incompetence. Who was she to run around and act the hero? She couldn't even do things that were straightforward; cast a spell and it's done. Had she ever wanted to do this for goodness's sake? Tumbling out the window and screaming 'It's me' was all done in theatrics. None of that helped Oz. She hadn't been looking for a life of goodness, all she had wanted attention. She was no better than Glinda. It _was_ all in which label is able to persist. No matter what she did, she would be a Wicked Witch. Even if she unseated the Wizard and exposed his lies, the people would hate her for it.

_They call me wicked, _Elphaba thought ruefully, standing up. The haze of the dust seemed to be in everything she saw- the sky was bleaker, stone walls grayer, time-worn tapestries duller. _So I am wicked. In fact, it's so much who I am its part of my name…_ She turned slowly, each of her movements slow and deliberate. Opening the door, she was met immediately by Salamaris. He had heard the chanting end a little while ago, but was scared to enter unless she was still busy.

"What is it?" He took in everything about her immediately; the dull expression, sorrowful eyes, slow walk.

"It's over." Elphaba said flatly, still walking. The determined energy was gone, and Salamaris didn't even have to break into a jog to catch up to his usually quick-paced leader.

"What do you mean, over?" he said. Elphaba had never quit before. They had even tried to raid one trouble spot four times before succeeding, how could she give up the whole thing now? He didn't even know what about that spell made it so urgent.

"We can't keep fighting the Wizard." She never looked at Salamaris, never turned her head. "People have died, Animals are dying, and we can't do anything to stop it."

"Yes we can!" Salamaris stopped her, standing directly in front. Elphaba almost ran into him, her reflexes suddenly gone. "The Elphs would go to war with the Wizard if we had to." She avoided his eyes, ignoring his claims that they still had a leg to stand on. "We have your magic, the Grimmerie-"

"I can barely read that thing," Elphaba shook her head sadly. "The only thing that tells me what spells do are little pictures. They're hard to read, I don't even know what I'm doing half the time."

"But…the broom, your hat…" Salamaris tried to think of more spells that would have been hard to decypherate. Most of the other magic they had used was smoke distractions, unlocking spells, a short invisibility once. Those would have been easy to guess the meaning of. Elphaba looked at the floor.

"Flukes." Salamaris stood there, shocked almost as senselessly as he had when he had learned the truth about the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. "Go home, Salamaris." Elphaba said at last. "Tell whatever lie you need to and go home. Say I kidnapped you, enchanted your mind, anything. Just…stop fighting. The others, too. We're done." She stalked off down the hall, leaving a kind of depression in her wake. "I'm done." Salamaris watched her go, not sure what else to say to make her continue. She wanted to stop, but there was no way for her to get out. It was the least she could do, giving the Elphs a way to leave this existence they created.

That didn't mean it wasn't sad, knowing that your purpose in life, to stop the Wizard, had ended. Turning the other way, Salamaris left to fulfill Elphaba's last wish for the Elphs. He would find some way to continue to fight, but it would be much, much harder. He knew it.

* * *

It took a good two hours to get all the Elphs out of Kiamo Ko, especially after they had just arrived there. Elphaba was glad to a certain extent Salamaris helped carry out her final order; it meant less talking to other people.

The halls of the old castle were hauntingly empty without the Elphs. Elphaba wandered them aimlessly, trying to walk off her grief. Her ever-buzzing thoughts were silent, not even attempting to contemplate the sorry life she had been leading.

_Work, _Something cut through the fog, a half formed idea. _Do something._

_But what?_ She answered it dully, wanting to wallow in self-pity for a little longer. It wasn't necessarily less painful, but two losses in quick succession needed some mourning. She knew the voice was right, though. She had to do something to keep from wasting away. Immediately she thought of Fiyero, but she pushed the thought away quickly. He was dead, and there was nothing she could do. Nessa came next. Also dead, but Nessa had her shoes. The shoes that sniveling lump of a girl stole off her dead body. Elphaba felt rage revitalizing her body, anger forcing blood through her veins and giving her life meaning.

Revenge was and excellent project to keep her busy...

**There. I changed some things in the cornfield scene, and finally finished the rest of it. Tell me if you liked it. Or if you didn't. Or if you think Salamaris should hook up with Elphie...All right, just kidding. Elphaba and Fiyero are forever. Except when one of them's dead. Please don't review with crazy claims of otherwise, Elphaba won't listen. -ahem-. Until then, keep reading and writing! -LostOzian**


	27. March of the Witch Hunters

Far off in Oz in the outlands of the Emerald City, Ozians gathered to see the brave hunters off. Villagers mostly, but a few people from the City itself had followed in worship of their heroes-to-be. A drum sounded with the intention of silencing the edgy crowd, but it only succeeded in stirring them up more.

"Go and hunt her!" They were shouting, demanding the deed be done. "And find her! And kill her!"

A frenzied woman cried out to the hunters: "Good fortune, Witch hunters!"

"Go and hunt her!" The call came again, the combined wills of the people was frightening, more powerful than any Witch or Wizard, a power they never knew they had. "And find her! And kill her! Wickedness must be punished!" They swarmed at the balcony of their town hall, the tallest building in the whole village at the towering height of two stories. _Please go kill her! Go and do it!_ "Evil effectively eliminated!" Nobody came, and the people were beginning to grow desperate. Shovels and spades that wouldn't have been given a second glance were raised high, glinting iron heads turning into deadly weapons. "Wickedness must be punished!" More were drawn to the village square, holding torches aloft. "Kill the Witch!" Finally, something moved up on the balcony. A man appeared, looking much like he was wearing a suit of armor. But, the people closest to the balcony realized that he practically was a suit of armor; the tin exterior of his skin caught the light of the torches, reflecting back the enraged fire.

"And this is more than just a service to the Wizard," Boq shouted over the crowd, their shouts finally dying down to hear his words. Anger filled his voice, lifting him to a new experience of feeling he had never imagined since he lost his heart. Anger didn't need a heart. "I have a personal score to settle with Elph…with the Witch!" Boq felt himself getting carried away, reveling in the emotion that almost made him call Elphaba by her name. Subconsciously, he was listing all of the reasons Elphaba should be punished. It all came back to one thing, though: his tin body. No, not the body; the heart. The lack of emotion. He couldn't feel things he had taken for granted. He could recognize things that would make him happy, sad, but couldn't feel anything. No tender thoughts of Glinda could make a brief reprieve from this new torture. Every day was agony, trying anything to feel emotions again. Anger was the only one that came, that made him feel like a human again. Nobody ever needed a heart to be angry. He had spent a lot of time brooding over that feeling, and finally came to a conclusion: Elphaba did not deserve to die. No, far worse. She should be turned to tin. Made to experience the painful emptiness that nearly drove him insane with each new day. But that would mean he would have to be able to read that book of hers.

So he would have to settle for killing her.

"It's due to her I'm made of tin, her spell made this occur," The anger continued to grow, Boq drinking in the only emotion that was real to him now. "So for once I'm glad I'm heartless; I'll be heartless killing her!" The crowd screamed its approval. She had to be killed, punished for the terror she had inflicted upon innocent people! The people reinforced Boq's reasons, set them in stone in his mind. He remembered a night when that Scarecrow had tried to convince him otherwise, the brainless idiot.

* * *

Boq poked at the fire with his had, stirring up the flames that kept the little girl, his new friend, warm. The Scarecrow stared at him nervously; in awe that Boq could put his hand in the flames and come out unharmed.

"That's pretty gusty," He said simply, watching the crackling fire.

"I'm _tin_," Boq said shortly. "As long as I don't leave my finger in there too long, I'm _fine_."

"Oh," The Scarecrow looked from the fire to Boq, studying him. Boq met the Scarecrow's eyes challengingly, daring him to speak again. Finally, the Scarecrow broke the silence of night again.

"Why do you hate the Witch so much?" Boq stared at him puzzlingly. Who _didn't _hate the Witch? "...more than most people." The Scarecrow added, realizing the stupidity of his question. Boq tried to be sympathetic; the Scarecrow was only trying to make sense of the world around him, it wasn't his fault, but an impatient anger was all that would come. Sympathy needed a heart.

"It's her fault I'm like this," Boq felt his petty annoyance slip into the familiar hatred of Elphaba. "Her sister made my heart disappear, and then the Witch turned me to tin." The Scarecrow pondered that for a minute.

"Don't people die without a heart?" The stupid question came.

"Duh." Boq said, and poked the fire with his finger again.

"Then it sounds like she saved your life." Boq looked up. The Scarecrow appeared surprised as well, and proceeded to explain his sudden thought for fear it would go away. "Things without a heart die, but you're tin, so you're not dead. You're not dead because the Witch turned you to tin."

It made sense, but Boq's anger could not be quelled so easily.

"You forget that things without a heart don't feel." Boq said acidly. The Scarecrow seemed taken aback "I'd rather be dead and at peace than _this_." He gestured down at his tin body, joints clanking as tin scraped tin. The night silence continued.

"I don't know exactly what happened," The Scarecrow began slowly, piecing together muddled notions. "But she probably didn't have much time to decide what to do." Boq's eyes widened. Two semi-rational thoughts in as many minutes? The Scarecrow continued, oblivious to Boq's surprise. "She couldn't have planned it out before and thought about the consequences." He paused, and looked into Boq's metallic, cold eyes. "So you have to cut her some slack for good intentions." Boq's idea that he might have a partially intelligent traveling companion faded back into nothing.

"She's a wicked witch, brainless." Boq said, letting his annoyance show. "She doesn't have good intentions." He remembered the Elphaba he saw back in the apple orchard, perfectly willing to kill them all for Nessa's shoes. If he hadn't hated her before, he would have after that whole debacle.

"I'm just saying," The Scarecrow fell silent for the final time, and the matter dropped.

* * *

Back in the present, Boq continued to stoke the people's anger.

"And I am not the only one!" He turned back into the room from the balcony, beckoning someone else forward. He spoke quietly, but the eager crowd could hear his every word.

"Oh, come on, you!" He was saying, growing exasperated at whoever he wanted to speak next. "Come out and tell them what she did to you in class that day." He grabbed a thick tail, a tuft of brown hair on the end proving it was a Lion's. "How you were just a cub, and she cubnapped you!" He tugged on the tail a few times, bracing a metal leg against the wall in a vain attempt to pull the Lion out into the open. With an anticlimactic roar petering out into a catlike whine, he finally let the tail go. He turned back to the crowd, adding the Lion's fear and hatred to his own.

"You see?" He said forcefully, imagining his companion's negative opinion of the Witch and multiplying it tenfold in his mind. "You see the Lion also has a grievance to repay!" The crowd's eyes widened. They were always suckers for poor-little-Animal stories. "If she'd let him fight his own battles when he was young, he wouldn't be a _coward_ today!" The crowd stirred again, this abomination against Animals the final straw! Boq left the balcony, taking some sort of satisfaction in knowing he had all of Oz's support in his quest against Elphaba.

Well, not all of Oz.

"No! That's not the way that happened!" Glinda watched from a window, far away from the crowd. She tugged on Madame Morrible's sleeve like a six-year-old begging for attention. "Madame, you have to stop this! It's gone too far!" Madame Morrible gritted her teeth and put up with the indignity of being treated like a servant.

"Oh," She said indifferently. "I think _Elphaba_ can take care of herself. She sent those horrid followers of hers away, so she must be doing splendidly." Glinda felt disturbed by the almost-subtle sarcasm in Madame Morrible's manner. And how dare she call her Elphaba?! All those horrible lies she told to build her up into a monster. Madame Morrible wasn't talking about Elphaba anymore. It was the Wicked Witch of the West whenever Madame Morrible spoke of her. The West and the East. But the East was dead…a cyclone…

"Madame, something's been troubling me," Glinda tore herself away from the terrible scene of rabid anger to try and catch Madame Morrible's eye. "About Nessarose and that cyclone!"

"Oh, yes…" Madame Morrible seemed far away, as if the death- actual _death_- of a person wasn't important. "Well, I guess it was just her time…"

"Was it?" Glinda challenged, bringing Elphaba's suspicions to the light. "Or did you?" Madame Morrible's eyes sharpened, all of a sudden painfully aware of everything around her. She met Glinda's eyes, stormy gray punishing blue.

"Now, you listen to me, Missy," she began, her voice a low hiss. "You may have fooled the rest of Oz with this "aren't I good" routine, but I know better. You've wanted this since the beginning..." She suddenly let up, her voice high and sarcastic. "and now you're getting what you wanted! So just smile" She demonstrated a painfully forced smile that sent shivers down Glinda's spine. "and wave," she pushed Glinda's hand, trying to make her wave. "and shut up!" She said finally. The Witch hunters were passing the little cottage. Glinda watched in horror as the people of the village tried to press ancient swords and rusty daggers into the hands of the odd hunters; a large Lion, a little girl, a Scarecrow -of all things- and the Tin Man, hoping that it could be the tool to claim the Witch's life. Dorothy stared at the cruel metal blades, wide eyed at the prospect that someone might be killed, but was hurried on by the Scarecrow, his eyes staring at the ground and completely ignoring the array of weaponry presented to him. He seemed oddly quiet; probably because he couldn't make up his mind what to think about the scenario. Glinda knew what she wanted to do, though; she had to go warn Elphaba, make sure she knew what was coming before it was too late. Maybe even talk some sense back into her. All recent sightings of the Witch described her as wild and insane, definitely not the calmly calculating Elphaba she had known at Shiz. Madame Morrible opened the window, her voice one of many as she called out:

"Good fortune! Good fortune, Witch hunters!" They passed by the window without so much as a glance.

"Wickedness must be punished!" The crowd continued, keeping pace with the hunters for as long as possible. "Brave witch-hunters, I would join if I could…" The crowd began to fall back, not wanting to approach the Witch in her castle themselves, but perfectly happy to let a band of misfits go and do the deed. "Because wickedness must be punished!" They reached the edge of the village, the castle barely visible in the distance as a great, looming structure against the oncoming gloom. "Punished!" The crowd finally stopped, brandishing the family sword or shovel high, hoping with all their might that the hunters' attempt would be successful. "PUNISHED!" They called after them, deluding themselves into thinking that if the hunters succeeded, it was a success to them as well. "By good!"

And the battle horn and roll of drums faded as the crusaders continued their advance on the castle.


	28. For Good

Elphaba paced in the empty hall of Kiamo Ko, beginning to feel a splitting headache come on, and all because of that miserable little girl. She's locked up in the dungeon, and Elphaba could still hear her manic sobbing up in the main hall. She rubbed her temples fervently, trying to make the sound go away.

"Oh, for Oz's sake, stop _crying_!" Elphaba shouted to the hall. Nobody answered her but her echo. The monkeys were all resting, and those sentries were just mindless good-for-nothings in over decorative uniforms. They wouldn't even bat an eyelash to save her if her life really depended on it. Still, the matter at hand was that stupid, stupid girl! "I can't take it anymore!" She approached the trapdoor to her prison room, and began shouting at it mockingly. "Do you want to see your Auntie Em?!" She spat 'Auntie Em' with contempt, the shattered dreams of long ago filling her with contempt. If that girl hadn't shown up, then Nessa _and_ Fiyero would be alive!

And then there might have been an Auntie Nessa…

She couldn't stop herself from trying to make the girl's life more despondent as un-cried tears manifested as words. "And your Uncle…" _Crap. _Elphaba faltered. That girl had never said her uncle's name. Always 'Auntie Em this' and 'Auntie Em that'. "Uncle what's-his-name again?!" Elphaba improvised. She finally opened the trapdoor and shouted down into the cells. "Then get those shoes off your feet!" Elphaba slammed the trapdoor shut again, the sound resonating in the great empty hall. The crying had stopped. The girl was probably in shock now, but at least she was quiet. It made thinking easier. Dully, she remembered a time when thinking was clear, when she would sit in Father's library and read a book, take a side on a certain subject and argue it to the end sensibly. She pushed that away before she had time to dwell on it. Her past life didn't matter anymore. She hadn't deserved any of the goodnesses that Father and her friends had shown her. In the end, it didn't matter what she did. She was a Wicked Witch, and would always be wicked. Though still, the crying had stopped, and that meant that she could actually get something done. Which mostly consisted of moping nowadays, but Elphaba didn't admit that because she couldn't find a politically correct way to say it.

"Little brat…" She said to herself, listing all the ways that girl had wronged her and her family. She allied with the Wizard…she's helping Boq to come and kill her, no clue what that's about…She arrived, and killed Nessa…_Nessa._ "Takes a dead woman's shoes! Must have been raised in a barn!" Elphaba threw up her hands, disgusted by the lack of civilization the girl had. She looked up. Chistery was staring at her, trying to decide if he should approach her. Elphaba tried to calm herself down. The one good deed she couldn't stop herself from trying to do was to teach these Monkeys how to speak again. They stuck to her anyway, and wouldn't leave.

"Chistery!" She said. The Monkey tilted his head on hearing his name. "Oh, Chistery, there you are. Where are the others?" Chistery pointed away, his left wing twitching. They had incredible body language, and usually understood what she was saying, but couldn't speak themselves. Elphaba approached the Monkey, sorrowful for the torture that he had been put through. "Chistery, please, even if you don't, try to keep speaking!" Chistery understood that she was disappointed, and tried to look down. She took his head on one hand gently, stopping him. "You will never learn if…" Elphaba saw something move behind him. It was Glinda. She turned from Chistery and began to stalk off. "Go away!" She snapped. She did _not_ need this right now! Glinda stayed at the top of the stairs, breathing hard. She hadn't dared use her bubble for fear someone would see, and now she was paying the price of having walked: physical exhaustion.

"They're coming for you," Glinda panted. Elphaba stopped at the far end of the hall and looked down at a trapdoor. Glinda had arrived a few halls down to hear Elphaba screaming at someone…_Oh, sweet Oz, Elphie!_ Glinda thought, panicked. _She's keeping Dorothy prisoner…_

"Go…away!" Elphaba repeated. Glinda felt heartbroken. This Elphaba fit the mold that the Wizard and Madame Morrible tried to create so well. Her friend was gone.

"Let the little girl go!" Glinda said, desperately trying to make Elphaba see sense. She was only perpetuating the problem by keeping that girl a captive. "And that poor little dog…" What was its name? There were two 'o's… "Dodo!" She said at last. Elphaba turned and folded her arms defiantly, challenging Glinda to make her comply. She had all the power here, not like in Munchkinland with Nessa's shoes. This was her castle, and she could do anything. Technically, Glinda was trespassing anyway… Glinda faltered a little bit. She had to get through to Elphaba, and stop wasting time with the Wicked Witch of the West. She folded her arms, too, using the staircase for height.

"I know you don't want to hear this, _Elphaba_," Glinda deliberately used her friend's name. She saw the green woman falter the tiniest bit. It had been a long time since someone called her Elphaba. "But someone has to say it. You. Are out. Of control!" Elphaba let her bold stance go, staring at Glinda indignantly. Glinda rolled her eyes. Elphaba knew she was right, but continued to pretend that everything was fine. "I mean, come on! They're just _shoes_!" Glinda brushed her hands in the air as if sweeping something away. "Let it go!" She used her famous stage whisper. The words stumbled around Elphaba's head, making absolute sense but not being accepted. She had decided to go after Nessa's shoes to forget about her own pain. "You can't go on like this," Glinda said quietly. Oh, now Glinda was telling her what to do. Elphaba flared. Nobody told her what to do anymore!

"I can do anything I want!" She snarled up at Glinda, finally descending the old stone stairs. She had been a part of this all, she was part of the reason that horrendible girl had Nessa's shoes! "I am the Wicked-" Elphaba took a step forward. "-Witch-" and another. "-of the West!" She finished finally, staring straight at Glinda's face, at eye level due to the fact the Good Witch was still standing on the second stair. A chattering interrupted the beginnings of another rant. She turned to see another one of the Monkeys, a skinny one with a patch of bronze-red hair on his back. He was always begging for attention, trying to be helpful while showing Elphaba things and slowing her down. As a ghost from her past, she called it Deverig, (**Take that, annoying original character!**) and usually tried to send it out of fool's errands and scouting missions to keep it out of her life. It held out a small scroll to her. Always trying to find something important to tell her.

"At last! What took you so long?" Elphaba had never had much patience with this Monkey, despite his willingness to learn, and she needed to keep up the Wicked Witch act now that Glinda was here. She had to convince Glinda she had changed, that there was no point in staying around. She snatched the tiny piece of paper and unfurled it. There were four short lines, arranged like poetry. Who would write her poetry?! "Why are you bothering me with this?" She demanded, but then remembered that only one person would write her poetry. She looked down at the words on the paper, actually reading them this time.

_Fake your passage to the realms of the dead_

_And the one you kept alive will find you._

_Be careful when it rains; one sweet as you would melt_

_But only when there's a flame._

_Oh, sweet Oz…_ Elphaba reread the message again. _Fiyero…_ The cloud over her mind vanished, and she quickly understood the message. Pretend to die, hide, and Fiyero would find her. Stage a…melting… but make it look like they did it by starting a fire. It all made sense. She continued to stare at the note, still strangely dumbfounded. Where was Fiyero? When was he coming? Glinda stared at her friend and Elphaba's shocked expression at the note. Only one thing would put _her_ in a state like that. Still, she couldn't help but ask.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Elphaba stopped. Glinda was still here. Fiyero intended to meet her alone, she was sure. She couldn't fake passage for two, and especially not Glinda the Good Witch of the North, thrice-beloved puppet of the Wizard. "It's Fiyero, isn't it?" Glinda guessed, finally stepping off the stairs to be at floor-level with Elphaba. "Is…is he…" Glinda tried to ask the question. Elphaba knew she had made the same assumption she had, seemingly so long ago, when she cast the spell. Somehow it worked. But Glinda couldn't know that, without having to be brought with them. Besides, good witches don't melt.

"Oz has seen his face for the last time." Elphaba chose her words carefully and quickly, refusing to full-out lie to Glinda. They _would_ have to leave, she and Fiyero; hide, and never be seen by anyone ever again. Glinda clasped her hands to her face, and Elphaba could see tears welling up in her eyes. _She assumed he died._ Elphaba thought pityingly. _The same way I did._

"Oh no…no…" Elphaba caught Glinda's words as she started to cry. Elphaba took advantage of the distraction to whisper to Deverig; for once the Monkey's eager intelligence would do her good.

"Bring me the book," she said gently, then turned back to Glinda. There was so much that needed to be done before one can die. "You're right," she said so Glinda could hear her. "It's time I surrender." _One sweet as you would melt…_She needed to have water conveniently lying around. She took a bucket and began to fill it at the pump on the wall. Glinda followed her curiously, not sure what her friend was doing.

"Elphie…?" Glinda questioned. Bucket filled, Elphaba placed it by a short flight of stairs. _Please say someone sees it…_She hoped silently, and then turned to Glinda.

"You can't be found here," she said. "You must go!" She gestured around her. A place to hide. Glinda didn't even have to leave, just…not be seen. Glinda folded her arms, pouting, with her tears for Fiyero still not dry.

"No." She said blatantly. She would not desert Elphaba now. Now, when she most needed a friend. Elphaba stared at Glinda. Now she started abiding by the truth? That would have been helpful a year or so ago!

"You must leave!" Elphaba said forcefully. Did she want to keep her power or not?

"No!" Glinda repeated, unwilling to leave Elphaba to fend for herself- again- in her greatest time of need. "I'll tell them everything!" She threatened. Elphaba would have rolled her eyes if the matter hadn't been so serious.

"No!" Glinda had a death wish, Elphaba was sure, if she was to make a promise like that. "They'll only turn against you!"

"I don't care!" Glinda protested. She shouldn't have had all that she did! Elphaba was the one who deserved it, and she chose this life for what was right! She had tried so hard, she shouldn't have been forced to bear such slander and propaganda! Glinda wished desperately to trade places with Elphaba, the final good deed that would have made up for all the misery Glinda had avoided.

"I do!" Elphaba said. Glinda bit her lip at Elphaba's bravery. Her friend was about to have to face off the counter-attack of her taking Dorothy captive, and she wanted to do it alone and be remembered as the rotten-to-the-core Wicked Witch of the West. "Promise me," she said quietly. "Promise me you won't try and clear my name…promise." Glinda had to stay in power, stay influential. She can stop what is happening if she kept those connections. Glinda just stared at her friend sadly, remembering the stages that one went through with a fatal disease. Disbelief. The throne room. Anger. The tower and resistance. Resignation. The wickedness. And now this, acceptance. Willing to let Glinda move on to greater things she could have had, wishing her to not clear Elphaba's name.

"All right…I promise." Glinda said sadly. This would be Elphaba's final wish, even if she made it through tonight. The crowd that sent off the witch hunters was homicidal. Insane. No amount of brains and magical brawn could battle with a force like that. "But I don't understand." Elphaba shrugged her shoulders hopelessly.

"I'm limited." She said simply. Glinda could feel the pain in her words, the knowledge that all she had done had been for nothing. Her dreams were impossible, and there was nothing left to do but admit defeat. "Just look at me. I'm limited." Glinda did look at her friend. Scraggly scraps of multicolored cloth were sewn clumsily into her skirt, hiding tears. Glinda could see the stains of wear, grass, mud, and the occasional blood blending in with the remaining dark fabric. Elphaba kept her hair loose after all this time, knots and split ends ravaging the black mane. "And just look at you, you can do all I couldn't do…Glinda," Deveriug returned bearing a heavy book. Elphaba took it, muttered a thank you, and held it out to Glinda. Glinda's eyes widened as she realized it was the Grimmerie. She took a step back.

"Here," Elphaba said, still holding the Grimmerie out to Glinda. "Go on. Take this." Glinda continued to stare at it, not seeing the sense in Elphaba's plan. She was about to be attacked, and she was giving away her best line of defense?! Why in Oz?

"Elphie…" Her voice trembled. This would be a great sacrifice on Elphaba's part, and Glinda wasn't really sure it was the best thing, either. "You know I can't read that…" Elphaba stared down at the book, annoyed it put such an obstacle in front of her. With resolve, she answered Glinda.

"Well then, you'll have to learn." She practically pushed the Grimmerie into Glinda's hands. Glinda could feel her legs trembling, absolutely sure that this meant the end. Elphaba knew what was important. The Grimmerie would have been high on that list. "Now it's up to you…" She looked down, admitting to her own failure. "For both of us. Now it's up to you" Glinda stared at Elphaba, her friend's gaze calm and focused. This was Elphaba now, not the Wicked Witch. She shuddered as she remembered where she had seen that look before. It was in the Wizard's tower, where Elphaba first sacrificed her dreams to do what was right. And now she was sacrificing all hope of redemption…and for what?

"You were the best friend I could ever have hoped for," Elphaba added. Glinda could feel pain, heartbreak filling the room, mixed with the anticipation of waiting for something to happen.

"And I thought I had so many best friends…but only one mattered." Glinda tried not to cry again. Elphaba wasn't crying. Maybe she couldn't, not now as she faced the ultimate threat to her life. Elphaba. She was finally giving up again, and Glinda might never see her again. She remembered years before she had met the green girl; blissfully empty, no purpose yet no trouble. Elphaba had marked the end of her childhood, and Glinda felt the need to thank her for that.

"I've heard it said," Glinda began, memories flooding her. "That people come into our lives for a reason." Her life with Elphaba flashed before her eyes: their first verbal battle, rooming, classes, homework, laughter, tears (usually Glinda's), and finally the Emerald City. A lifetime of memories was packed into the few months at Shiz. "Bringing something we must learn, and we are led to those who help us most to grow…" Glinda could still recall the silly dreams of her girlhood, blown away by her friendship with Elphaba. The first friend that mattered. "If we let them, and we help them in return." The popularification. That was one of the most fun nights of Glinda's life, despite not seeing eye to eye, and Glinda could see hints of that night in the grown-up Elphaba before her; the way she let her hair stay loose, the less icy expression, the way she seemed to make black the year's pink.

"Well, I don't know if I believe that's true," Glinda listed habits she had picked up from Elphaba during their friendship. Reading, listening, little tunes she would sing in the shower. "But I know I'm who I am today because I knew you." Elphaba smiled slightly, recognizing irony in the heartfelt pledge. The perfect Glinda attributed the way turned out to the Wicked Witch. "Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun," Yes, that was what it was like… Galinda Upland had been speeding along toward her dreams, when she passed Elphaba Thropp. The green girl's influence had changed her dreams, what she wanted to do in life. "Like a stream that meets a boulder, halfway through the wood." Glinda could feel the greatest gift Elphaba had given her; a conscience. She had made Glinda a better person, though said conscience wasn't very useful in a political lifestyle.

"Who can say if I've been changed for the better?" Glinda continued, some small part of her wanting to tell Elphaba that she had to keep fighting. To stop fighting meant to die, and death was pretty permanent. "But, because I knew you, I have been changed for good."

"It well may be that we will never meet again in this lifetime," Elphaba added, getting the sense Glinda knew that Elphaba knew her death was coming. _But she can't know…_Elphaba thought with despair. "So let me say before we part, so much of me is made of what I learned from you," The cape. Odd hat. Almost all of Elphaba's trademarks were influenced by Glinda and nobody knew it.

"You'll be with me, like a handprint on my heart." Elphaba held one green hand over the metaphorical handprint. "And now whatever way our stories end," Elphaba knew the end of the stories rather well, however. She would 'die' in scorn of society and Glinda would be thought of lovingly and frequently. But how would it have ended if Elphaba hadn't become friends with Glinda? "I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend…like a ship blown from its moorings, by a wind off the sea," That's what Glinda had done. She had moved Elphaba, changed her way of thinking ever so slightly, but enough for it to matter. "Like a seed dropped by a sky bird, in a distant wood…" Glinda had given Elphaba everything she needed to grow strong, strong enough to last those three years. "Who can say if I've been changed for the better? But…because I knew you…"

"Because I knew you…" Glinda echoed, begging whatever force controlled death to let Elphaba see life after the hunters arrived.

"I have been changed for good." They said together, minds thinking alike. They might never see their best friend ever again. So much was left unsaid, so much they could have done and never had the chance to do ever again.

"And just to clear the air, I ask forgiveness, for the things I've done you've blamed me for…" Elphaba began, about to apologize. For scaring Glinda so by running off. For never contacting her. For abandoning her cause, and truly becoming a Wicked Witch… Glinda stopped her deftly, reading each other's minds more than their actions.

"But then, I guess, we know there's blame to share." Glinda implored, thinking of how she should have gone with Elphaba. So many were hurt in her ascent, but she ignored it all just because she wasn't the one dealing the blows. If she wanted it done, it was done. Always by others, at the expense of others. _Not anymore,_ Glinda thought. _If Elphaba lives, I'm changing it all. Even if she doesn't…but please let her live!_ Elphaba practically sensed her resolution, and knew that the past was now irrelevant.

"And none of it seems to matter anymore!" They said together. They had been changed. There was no way to go back, and they could only look to the future. They could pay one last tribute to each other, and then they would have to leave each other.

"Like a comet pulled from orbit as it passes a sun…" Glinda tried to give credit to who she was to Elphaba.

"Like a ship blown from its moorings by a wind off the sea…" Elphaba denied, telling Glinda that she had made the biggest difference in her life.

"Like a stream that meets a boulder, halfway through the wood…."  
"Like a seed dropped by a sky bird, in a distant wood…."

"Who can say if I've been changed for the better?" They asked each other, hoping they were, indeed, better people despite public opinion. "I do believe I have been changed for the better…"  
"And, because I knew you…" Glinda said.

"Because I knew you…" Elphaba added, the pain that she knew Glinda would feel resounding in her heart.

"Because I knew you… I have been changed for good." Finally, it was too much. The two shared on last best-friend hug, the last they would see of each other. They were both sure of it. The hug was broken by a disturbance in the hall. A faint roar. A distant scrape of metal on stone. _Those I have helped have come to kill me…_ Elphaba thought pensively. The Lion cub. Boq, the man of tin. _Scarecrow's probably just along for the ride,_ Elphaba assumed. She turned to Glinda, knowing her time was coming.

"You have to hide." Elphaba strode over to one tapestry, pulling aside the worn cotton wall hanging. There was a small door less closet with a single stool, dusty with such a long period of neglect. Elphaba motioned her inside. "No one can know you were here." She grabbed Glinda's arm, almost pushing her inside. "Hide yourself!" She let the tapestry fall again, concealing Glinda save the shadows that fell across the tapestry. She could easily recognize Elphaba's silhouette, directing sentries and Monkeys and threatening the hunters. Just like the Wicked Witch of the West. _What happened to Elphaba I saw just moments ago? _Glinda thought. The girl was there, a bright fire, and she tossed a bucket of water. Most of it landed on Elphaba, and her dying scream haunted Glinda until the day it was the Good Witch's turn to leave Oz herself.

* * *

Boq stared at the pile of black fabric, barely believing that all it had taken was a bucket of water. Elphaba's dying scream rang in his head, such an intense and sudden pain that it broke through his anger. Elphaba. She had been his classmate, his idol's best friend. How could she have been wicked? The Scarecrow's naïve assumption of so long ago made sense now. She _had_ meant well when she turned him to tin. She probably could have fixed it, too. He had just participated in the death of an innocent woman. He looked up at his friends. The Lion watched the pile of cloth, puzzled, as if he expected her to solidify again. Dorothy was looking around at the Winkie sentries; fearful one might deliver reprimands for the death of the castle's inhabitant. The Scarecrow nursed his burn, seemingly uninterested in the melting. Boq looked at his own feet, the tin feet that he would have to bear for the rest of his immortal life, now as a punishment for this crime.

"Take the broom and let's go," He said quietly. Dorothy picked up the smoldering broomstick anxiously and started to the exit, followed closely by the Lion, clinging to her for protection. Boq was about to go when he noticed the Scarecrow was still looking at Elphaba's melted remains. The straw man seemed surprised, the ghost of a knowing smile on his rough cloth face.

"What is it?" Boq asked. A different emotion, unfelt for so long, was chasing away the haze: Curios concern. The Scarecrow looked up at him, any potential smile vanishing.

"Nothing," he said simply. "Let's go." He followed Dorothy and the Lion to the exit.

* * *

"Elphie?" The eerie calm seeped into Glinda's skin, a cold, damp feeling that something terrible had occurred. "Elphie?" The tapestry was pulled aside, revealing Chistery. He hopped aside, allowing Glinda out of the hiding place. The large hall was deserted, the dying shouts of joy from the sentries fading into the air as they left their posts at long last. The only thing they had left of her was the hat and a dirty pile of black cloth, the cape. Glinda felt the tears coming again. All that was left of her friend was what Glinda had given her. _Water had melted her…_ Could water melt a person? No, there had to be something else, too. Maybe rust from the bucket reacted, or something… she had never been a chemist, so she wouldn't know. She picked up the hat, the hat she had once held with disgust and hugged it close to her, willing Elphaba back to life, but knew it wouldn't happen. She was dead. It couldn't be changed. Chistery picked at the cape, searching for something. Finally, he produced the little green bottle. He held it out to her, struggling to form words.

"Miff…Miff Glinda…" It sounded like. _Miss Glinda._ Glinda took it, the final token of Elphaba's existence. It seemed so familiar. The night after the party. And the night Fiyero had run away…

She could do one last thing for her friend. She would do it.

**For Good is done! I almost cried. It was painful to do such a terrible thing to Glinda, and kind of to Boq. Poor Ozians. ONE….MORE…..CHAPTER…..And then I get full nights of sleep. Review if you want me to finish it, but please don't do too many spoilers unless you PM me. Reviews are happy-making. Keep reading and writing! -LostOzian**


	29. No One Mourns The Wicked

Glinda could hear Madame Morrible's drawling voice as she entered the Wizard's throne room slowly, fingering Elphaba's bottle by her side.

"Well, I don't know why you're so despondiary," She was saying. Glinda could see them now; Madame Morrible leaning against the Oz head with the Wizard sitting at its base, staring at the floor glumly. She had used Elphaba to get to the top and wasn't afraid to kill her to keep that power. Still, she wasn't the issue now. It was the Wizard. Glinda stared at him coldly, holding Elphaba's bottle in front of his downcast face.

"This was Elphaba's." She said flatly. The Wizard blinked, his expression turning from morose to bewildered.

"What's that you say?" He took the bottle from Glinda, studying it disbelievingly.

"It was a keepsake." Glinda said, preparing herself to voice the incredible news. "It was her mother's. She told me so herself." The Wizard's eyes widened as he fumbled with an inner pocket in his lab coat.

"I've only seen a little, green bottle like this one other time. It was right here, in this very room. You offered me a drink from it." The Wizard retrieved an identical bottle from his coat, comparing it to the first.

"But…" The Wizard stammered, remembering the one person he had ever shared the green elixir with. Melena…Melena_ Thropp_… he realized now. Instantly he knew why Elphaba had seemed so familiar. Her dark hair, tall stance, but she had just enough of his blood that he hadn't known the difference.

And now she was dead. He had ordered her death.

"Oh my Lord…" The Wizard breathed. Madame Morrible and Glinda briefly wondered who this 'Lord' was.

"I am a sentimental man, who always longed to be…" Oh, how Elphaba had hated him. He had been despicable, evil; _he_ should have been melted long ago! She had grown up with her own father, and she wouldn't want anything to do with him. He was a terrible person. "A father…" Madame Morrible looked from him to Glinda. Glinda, their little puppet, had found this out? It was staring them in the face.

"So that was it," She said, remembering the day the Wizard confided in her that he wasn't Ozian, but instead from a strange place called Kansas. _The life-giver and killer were from the same place,_ she thought. But that was the whole point. Oz and 'Kansas' never mixed, except for in Elphaba… "That's why she had such powers! She was a child of both worlds!" Glinda watched the Wizard emotionlessly, mildly surprised at the amount grief he was showing. But then again, maybe he was a sentimental man. She let him cry for a little while, wondering if this was really the same man that had tried to use Elphaba before.

"I want you to leave Oz," Glinda said at last. "I'll make the pronouncement myself: that the strains of wizardship have been too much and you are taking…an indefinite leave of absence." The Wizard didn't even look up, still sobbing. Glinda grabbed an arm and dragged him to a half-standing position. "Did you hear what I said?" The Wizard nodded slightly, tears still streaming down his face.

"Yes…your goodness," He said sadly, admitting defeat.

"You'd better go get your balloon ready," She said ruefully. The Wizard fully stood and left out the main doors for once, much to the surprise of the pair standing guard. A man they hadn't let into the throne room was coming out? But of course. The Wizard hadn't shown his scheming face to the public in many years. Glinda turned on Madame Morrible. It was her turn now.

"Guards!" Glinda called, snapping her fingers. A tiny, unnoticed spark fell from her fingertips. Madame Morrible tried to smile, shaken by how easily Glinda had reduced the Wizard to giving up.

"Glinda, dear, I know we've had our…miniscule differentiations…in the past…" Madame Morrible tried to protest, scolding herself for ever letting Glinda rise so high in public opinion. The Ozians had demanded her continued promotion until she was higher than Madame Morrible; high enough that those guards would do whatever she wanted to almost anyone. Glinda stared at her coldly.

"Madame, have you ever considered how you'd fare in captivity?" Madame Morrible looked confused.

"What?" She asked dully. Captivity was for Animals, dirty stinking Animals. Not esteemed figures like her. Then again, in Glinda's eyes she probably was a dirty stinking Animal.

"Cap-tiv-i-ty." Glinda enunciated each syllable. Madame Morrible shook her head slowly, not comprehending. "Prison!" Madame Morrible froze. Her, in prison? Glinda continued mercilessly. "Personally, I don't think you'll hold up very well." Glinda did a perfect imitation of Madame Morrible's fake smile the night the Hunters went against Elphaba in one final strike. "My professional opinion is that you do not have _what it takes._" Glinda quoted for impact. Madame Morrible glanced at the pair of guards nervously. "I hope you prove me wrong. I doubt you will." Glinda motioned to the guards. "Take her away!"

"No!" Madame Morrible screamed, trying to struggle, but unable to do so. The Gale Force was strong. Glinda watched her go pitifully. She would be held until she could be legally charged with the murder of Nessarose. Glinda was sure there was some article about illegal magic practice, and the Wizard probably hadn't thought to give Madame Morrible public permission. Glinda looked out to the grand square clock. People had just about filled the streets, beginning to celebrate in earnest. Glinda watched them sadly, not sure if she could face them and speak of Elphaba's death joyfully. Still, she had to. She summoned up her bubble and climbed in, praying to Elphaba's spirit. _Give me the strength to face them. Strength like you had.

* * *

_

Glinda could hear the joyous shouts from far away as she floated gracefully over the Emerald City.

"Good news!" They were shouting. "She's dead!" Glinda tried not to cry when they said that. It added an element of reality to the fact that she would never see Elphie ever again. "The Witch of the West is dead!" Glinda hung back in the air, trying to find the will to address them. They wanted her to, and it would be far too suspicious if she didn't, but she wasn't sure if she was ready. Even stranger would be if she lost her composure in speaking of the death of the Witch. After all, this _was_ a happy occasion…

"The wickedest Witch there ever was, the enemy of all of us here in Oz, is dead! Good news! Good news!" Finally, Glinda found the will to speak to the people. She willed her bubble closer, making herself known to the celebrators.

"Look! It's Glinda!" Glinda assumed her bright smile, the smile they wanted to see.

"It's good to see me, isn't it?" Glinda said. The people began a cheer, but Glinda silenced them quickly. Nobody should be cheering today. "No need to respond; that was rhetorical!" The Ozians laughed a little, thankful for a joke to prove that happiness had survived the rule of the Witch. Glinda watched their faces. They wanted her to talk about Elphaba's death. _No, _She resolved. _I won't speak to Elphaba's death; to the Wizard's departure. _

"Fellow Ozians," She began. "Let us be glad, let us be grateful, let us rejoicify that goodness could subdue…" Crap. She couldn't say goodness subdued the Wizard; to them, goodness was the Wizard. "…the wicked workings of you-know-who!" She said. She couldn't call her a witch anymore. "Isn't it nice to know that good will conquer evil?" She drifted over the entire population of the town, all turned out to celebrate Elphaba's death. "The truth we all believe will by and by outlive a lie," _The lie outlived the truth, _Glinda realized. When Elphaba died, so did the truth. "For you and-"

"Glinda!" Someone screamed for her attention. A man was staring at her coldly, a drastic departure from the loving gazes. He was dressed in at least four layers of clothing, undercoats blocking holes from overcoats. The tatters of a shawl hung around his neck. If she didn't know better, he was almost mournful. Almost. More angry… "Exactly how dead is she?" He demanded. Glinda could feel the accusation in his eyes. _You let her die._ All Glinda could do was smile and address the crowd as a whole and ignore his knowledgeable stare.

"Well, there had been much rumor and speculation," Glinda admitted. She didn't know exactly how Elphaba had died; all she knew is she had melted when the water hit her. It was rather farfetched, but she wouldn't be dead if it wasn't true. "Innuendo, outuendo…but let me set the record straight." Glinda took a deep breath, clutching her metal wand to keep from shaking and bursting the bubble. "According to the Time Dragon Clock, the melting occurred at the 13th hour;" Glinda knew the time exactly. She had been there. "The direct result of a bucket of water thrown by a female child." It almost broke her to say it, but the Ozians wanted- and needed- a direct answer. "Yes, the Wicked Witch of the West is dead!" The Ozians began another cheer, but the tattered man stopped them, crying out;

"No one mourns the wicked!" The man shouted, silencing the crowd with this new idea. A ragged-looking woman next to him agreed, adding in a hoarse voice;

"No one cries 'they won't return'!" Glinda suddenly realized who they were; Elphs. Ex-Elphs, sent away by Elphaba barely a week before her death. The man was the leader, Salamaris, as Glinda recognized features from his wanted poster. Scar across his cheek. Dark eyes. Wild manner.

"No one lays a lily on their grave!" The crowd agreed with the idea, however far from mourning the wicked. A balding man in a large overcoat approached Salamaris angrily. Glinda bit her lip at the resemblance to Frex, a man she only knew by Elphaba's description. _But he wasn't her father…_

"The good man scorns the wicked!" The man said to Salamaris directly. Salamaris clenched his fists as bystanders moved away. Another woman pulled the bald man away from Salamaris, she and her friends saying, "Through their lives, our children learn…"

"What we miss, when we misbehave!" The rest of the Ozians joined in, remembering warnings from their parents as to what happens to the people who are horrible. Glinda cut in, trying to work in a good word for Elphaba. That doesn't mean her name would be cleared.

"And goodness knows the wicked's lives are lonely…" Glinda's voice rang out over the crowd, silencing them. "Goodness knows the wicked die alone. It just shows when you're wicked; you're left only on your own…" Elphaba truly had been on her own, despite the Elphs. She couldn't depend on them for anything. Glinda let the bubble descend and land among the people, making little promises of how she was going to change things. No longer would the government have secret plans over the people's heads. They deserved to know, deserved to choose what to do about it. People helped her out of the bubble, Salamaris and the other Elph momentarily forgotten.

"Yes, goodness knows the wicked's lives are lonely." They admitted as Glinda moved about the crowd, paying respects to all she met. "Goodness knows the wicked cry alone..." Someone pulled a chair out from a house for Glinda to rest in as people surrounded her, ready with questions and wanting true answers. A small child worked her way into Glinda's lap, a beautiful little girl with dirty blond curls and shining blue eyes. Glinda stared at her for a second, when she noticed the girl's proud parents a little ways away. _This girl could be me,_ Glinda thought. _Years from now, she may go off to college and meet another girl, and together they'll make good throughout Oz._ The little girl looked up at Glinda hopefully.

"Glinda, why does wickedness happen?" She asked innocently. Glinda could see the people turn to her, expecting a good answer. _No, she's not me. _Glinda thought. _She's a thinker. An Elphaba. Oz knows we need more of them._

"That's a good question." Glinda said, before addressing all of them. "One that many people find confusifying. Are people born wicked? Or, do they have wickedness thrust upon them?" The people watched her. They didn't want to know why wickedness happened; they wanted to know why the Witch was wicked. Glinda read that and responded accordingly. "After all," Glinda started. "She had a father, who just happened to be the governor of Munchkinland." A few older Munchkins remembered the rule of Frexspar, the hard but fair justice before the Witch of the East. Glinda could just piece together what happened in her mind from the hastily recovered dates and records. There had been an assembly for the providences of Munchkinland, about half a day's ride from the Governor's mansion, nine months before Elphaba's birthday. The affair had to have happened then.

"She had a mother, as so many do…" She said. She had found a portrait of 'the New Esteemed Governor of Munchkinland, and His Wife' in her rushed research. Elphaba's mother had been a beautiful woman with dark eyes and black hair. She had received the Wizard's eyes. Glinda watched the sea of faces. They wouldn't understand if she just told them. She had to show them. She waved her wand once, conjuring up a medium-sized bubble. It floated just above head height, rainbows reflecting in its surface as if hovered. Focusing, Glinda tried to turn the rainbows into pictures. A middle-aged man in a long coat could be seen now packing a file case in an elegant study. The colors off in the slightly pink bubble, but unmistakably Frex, late governor of Munchkinland.

"_I'm off to the assembly, dear," said a younger Frex. Even though the Wizard had been her father, Frex was her parent. He had cared. A beautiful woman came in through the door, dusting off a cap. She placed it on his head, staring up at him lovingly. Elphaba's mother, Melena. Frex held her hands, speaking apologetically;_

"_How I hate to go and leave you lonely…" Melena smiled kindly, clearly forgiving him._

"_That's all right; it's only just one night…" She started to usher him out toward the door, despite the fact Frex obviously wanted to stay. He held her hands to his chest._

"_But know that you're here in my heart, while you're out of my sight!" With one final kiss, Frex left the house. Melena waved goodbye to him, before wiping the kiss off disgustedly. _Glinda started breathing heavily. This was hard, keeping that bubble like that.

"And, like every family," she managed as the Melena in the bubble moved through the house to the back door in the kitchen. "They had their secrets…" _Melena flung the door wide open, revealing another man with his hat tipped low to conceal his face. He drew a little green bottle from inside his coat pocket, playing a romantic game of keep-away as he and Melena practically danced in the kitchen._

"_Have another drink, my dark-eyed beauty, I've got one more night left here in town," Everything was strange about the man; his accent, the way he walked, even the way he kept Melena chasing him. "So have another drink, green elixir, and we'll have ourselves a little mix-er…" _Several people in the crowd drew back. Melena was going to cheat on Frex. This was almost more exciting than Emerald City tabloids. _"Have another little swallow, little lady, and follow me down…" He finally let Melena have the bottle, allowing her to take a long gulp. The alcohol took effect almost immediately, putting her in a deeply drunk state. _Glinda let the bubble pop, taking a quick break before summoning up another to tell the final part of Elphaba's beginning.

"And of course, from the moment she was born, she was…well," Glinda manipulated the rainbows again, showing a different scene. It was a bedroom, only with Melena. She looked fatter, more pregnant. Everyone knew that it was the lover's child, not Frex's. "Different!" Glinda let the scene go, visualizing the action as it took place in the bubble.

_Melena let out a terrible scream, falling backwards onto the bed. Instantly the midwife and supposed father were by her side._

_"It's coming!"_

_"Now!?" Frex seemed alarmed. He tried to soothe his wife, but there was nothing to be done for it; the baby was going to be born._

_"The baby's coming!" The midwife confirmed. Frex noticed Melena relaxing a bit, and moved to check on the birthing with the midwife._

_"And how!" He said. The midwife was waiting anxiously. This was a quick birth. _

_"I see a nose!" She said happily, waiting with clean linen._

_"I see a curl!" Frex added, overjoyed for this new arrival. His first born child…_

_"It's a healthy, perfect, lovely little…" The statement was cut short by the midwife screaming. _

_"Sweet Oz!" Frex exclaimed, shying away slightly from his wife and the baby._

_"What is it? What's wrong?" Melena cried, not able to see the child. The midwife turned to Frex, speaking more privately._

_"How can it be?" She asked, but Frex was equally as confused._

_"What does it mean?" Frex said, hoping against hope the midwife had seen something like this before. _

_"It's atrocious!" The midwife declared, fumbling with the linens to retrieve the baby. A baby was a baby. Frex stayed back a little bit, nervous about his new first born. _

_"It's obscene!" He added; amazed that something like this could have even happened._

_"Like a froggy, ferny cabbage, the baby is unnaturally…" The midwife finally brought the baby to the air for the first time in its life. "Green!"_

The spectators drew back in shock. It was the Witch.

_There was a stunned moment inside the bubble. The midwife drew the baby back in slowly, not sure what to do. She held it out to Frex, who stared at it amazedly. He took the baby in his arms, spent another moment staring at it, then sank to the floor, crying. _

"So you can see why it's amazing that she became wicked!" Glinda shouted, letting this second bubble pop. "She was loved!" The crowd was mournful, the nature of the celebration turning into a piteous recognition. How sad that the Witch's life had turned out the way it did! She might have been great, but instead had been lost from the path of goodness.

"No one mourns the wicked!" They cried, sorrowful that no one would mourn the Witch because of her actions. "Now at last, she's dead and gone! Now at last, there's joy throughout the land!" Glinda climbed back into her transport bubble, sure that if she stayed she would break Elphaba's promise and try to clear her name.

"And goodness knows we know what goodness is!" Glinda couldn't help but feel sorry for the misguided people. The Wizard's deception had taken root in their hearts, the truth twisted after years of lies. Glinda tried to ignore Salamaris' eyes. She could tell even as she rose steadily over the people that he didn't feel satisfied.

"Goodness knows the wicked die alone!" Glinda blinked back tears, using altitude to hide her pain.

"She died alone!" She agreed, trying to make sure the celebration stopped.

"Woe to those who spurn what goodnesses they are show…" Glinda started. The pity was short-lived, growing back into the cursing of the wicked and the joyous feeling of knowing that terror was dead.

"No one mourns the wicked!" They finally declared, letting their mourning pass. She had still been wicked. She should still have been killed. Glinda could only pretend to go along with their beliefs. She shouldn't even have shown them Elphaba's birth at all.

"Good news!" She cried out over the crowd.

"No one mourns the wicked!" They said again, trying to shake off the guilt. She had still deserved it.

"Good news!" Glinda breathed deeply, trying to keep herself from breaking out in tears. If she cried, the last of her energy would be gone, and she would lose the bubble.

"No one mourns…the wicked!" The wicked deserved to die! The deaths of the wicked should be celebrated! "Wicked!" She was wicked, her death meant liberation! "WICKED!"

"Well, this has been strangely fun!" Glinda said. The crowd began to dissipate, going back to their bars and taverns to drink to the health of the Hunters and their lovely Glinda the Good. She couldn't stay among such people. "But as you can imagine, I have much to attend to!" Glinda tried to think of a good excuse. "What with the Wizard's unexpected departure, so if there are no further questions-"

"Glinda!" Glinda turned in her bubble. It was Salamaris again. He looked at her with utter hatred, blaming her for something. _He blames me for her death…_ She realized as he asked the final question, the one that would be her undoing. "Is it true you were her _friend_?" Gasps and murmurs flooded through the crowd as people demanded to know if it was true. Glinda watched them grow angry again. _The only way out of this is to clear her name, _Glinda thought.

"Well…" Glinda straightened herself, preparing for the onslaught. "Yes. I was her friend. But know this!" Glinda raised her voice, shouting over the crowd. "I only become friends with good people! The Witch was a good person!"

"You lie!" Someone shouted. Salamaris moved beneath the bubble, drawing a short sword.

"Glinda the Good, lie?" He brandished the sword at the people. "She is telling the truth!"

Glinda conjured a bubble and sent it over the crowd.

"If you would quiet down, I can explain!" Glinda said, motioning to the bubble. It was about as large as hers now. _Perfect. _Glinda thought. "Our paths crossed, at school…"

The scene in the bubble changed into a wonderful recreation of the Shiz hall where it all started….

* * *

The corridors of Kiamo Ko held a ghostly silence, barely broken by the straw-muffled footsteps. The familiar halls held death in them now, the haunting thought that her unforgiving spirit would desire revenge.

Well, only if she had really died.

He found the melting hall easily and noticed her hat on the floor. Such an innocent marker. Hats don't melt, so it was left behind. Carefully, he picked up the hat, that old hat that Glinda gave her so long ago for a party. It had to be here. She was expecting him, after all. He banged on the trapdoor with all of his might, which wasn't very much anymore.

"It worked!" He said, backing up slightly for the trapdoor to open. He wasn't disappointed; Elphaba responded quickly, flinging up the cover enthusiastically.

"Fiyero?" She asked, then saw him. _Oh, sweet Oz…_She climbed out, sitting on the lip of the hole. _It was him all along…I'm so, so sorry…_Fiyero smiled, sure that Elphaba was thinking of how horrible she had been to the Scarecrow of Oz, all the while absolutely positive Fiyero of the Vinkus was dead.

_You're forgiven…_He thought as she raised a hand, not sure if he was really there or not. It could be a trick, the Scarecrow with his newfound brains here to trick her and kill her for real…Fiyero took her hand, letting it touch his face.

"Go ahead, touch," he said. "I don't mind." He shrugged slightly, remembering how little time Elphaba had to find a way to save him. "You did the best you could. You saved my life." Fiyero could think of how Boq needed to thank her, too, but the heartlessness had lingered even is his own immortality. He had forgotten how to feel. Elphaba held him close, pulling herself fully out of the hidden hole to hug him at long last.

"You're still beautiful," she whispered. Fiyero smiled.

"You honestly think that I'm beautiful?" He asked. She only pulled him tighter.

"In more ways than one…"

* * *

_And with a final, defiant scream, Madame Morrible was dragged away off to prison. _Feeling ready to pass out, Glinda let the bubble pop. The people were silent, still absorbing what they had just seen. She hadn't been wicked at all…she hadn't meant to do those things to people…to the Monkeys…

"No one mourns the wicked…" They began again, sounding more like a funeral march than celebrators. "Now at last, she's dead and gone," They had killed her! They had demanded the death of an innocent woman! Who were they to celebrate murder? "Now at last there's joy throughout the land…" Glinda found the strength to speak to them.

"Fellow Ozians," She began, but corrected herself. These people had accepted Elphaba. "Friends," She said. A friend of Elphaba's was a friend of hers. "What has been done is done. All that is left to do is to make sure it never happens again." _Don't punish the Hunters…they were lied to; it would be the Wizard and Madame Morrible that should be punished…_ "If you'll let me, I'd like to try to help. I'd like to finally be Glinda…" Glinda imagined who she had been moments before Elphaba's death; a public figurehead, with less brains, heart, and courage than the three Ozian Hunters thought they had. That's all going to change. "…the Good." The people started moving, tearing banners down and extinguishing bonfires. They would be monsters if they celebrated her death.

"Good news!" They shouted again. Yes, good news. The Wizard was gone, the Animals would be freed, and Oz would become the Oz it used to be.

* * *

The echo of the now sorrowful raptures reached Kiamo Ko as the news spread, unnoticed by the reunited pair.

"It's time to go," Fiyero said softly.

"We can never come back to Oz, can we?" she asked. Fiyero shook his head.

"No," they would have to find the lands beyond Oz, beyond the Impassible Desert, maybe. They could make it together.

"I only wish…" Elphaba said quietly, almost ashamed to ask if they could do it.

"What?"

"Glinda could know…that we're alive." Fiyero looked into her eyes, wanting to make sure she knew that this pained him as well.

"She can't know, not if we want to be safe." Fiyero saw tears well up in her eyes, sure that he would be crying by now, too. "No one can ever know." Elphaba looked away, out the window. But then something caught her attention. Or, the lack of something caught her attention.

"What is it?" Fiyero joined her at the window.

"The parties…" She said, scanning the horizon. "They had fireworks, and they've stopped suddenly." Elphaba looked away from the window, barely believing what must have happened.

"So?" Fiyero said, not yet understanding what was so amazing.

"Fiyero, I think Glinda managed to clear my name!" She said happily, the greatest thing in all of Oz having just happened. She ran out of the great doors, Fiyero only able to follow…

* * *

Glinda surveyed the people cleaning up, descending in her bubble to clear away everything in rejoice of Elphaba's death. Still, there was little for her to do, mostly leaving her standing in the middle of the square as the people did the only thing they could in tribute to Elphaba: stop the parties.

"Who can say…if I've been changed…for the better…" Glinda felt herself starting to cry again. She hadn't spoken up earlier. She could have saved Elphaba's life, maybe. "But…"

"Because I knew you…" Glinda could have sworn she heard an echo of Elphaba. She tried to shake it out of her head, closing her eyes against the battery of memory that she just couldn't handle. Not now, not here.

"Because I knew you…." Glinda tried to drown out the second voice, the voice of a ghost.

"I have been changed…" Glinda couldn't ignore it anymore. She was…closer. She opened her eyes. People had stopped cleaning, staring in amazement at the odd pair making their way into the village square. _Elphie…?_ She smiled at Glinda.

"Water will melt her, my foot." She said. Glinda knew at that moment that her friend hadn't died. They ran to each other, silently thanking all the powers at work that Elphaba had lived, that Glinda had made it safe for her to continue to live.

"I don't believe it…" Glinda breathed, but the Scarecrow heard her.

"People are so empty-headed they'll believe anything." He said. Glinda broke her hug with Elphaba in amazement.

"Fiyero?!" She exclaimed. He smiled again.

"Thank Elphaba for that," And the three could barely contain their happiness as new parties were set up around them. The Witch of the West lives.

**-pants- There! Sorry it still took so long. My computer ate it...twice. :K But no matter! It's done! I did it! Despite bans, lost discs, and file errors! I need a vacation...keep reading and writing! -LostOzian**


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